Medium resolution version of X-Ray Magazine (96 dpi)

Gulf Spill News :: Technical Dive Equipment :: Dive Watches 

Indonesia 

North Sulawesi 

GLOBAL EDITION 

October 2010 

Number 38 

Honduras 

Utila Island 

Sharks 

Sandtigers 

Amazon 

Pink 

Dolphins 

Ecology 

Cephalopods 

Lembeh 

i n d o n e s i a 

Strait 

Portfolio 

Caelum Mero 

1 X-RAY MAG : 38 : 2010 

cover photo by eric hanauer

DIRECTORY 

X-RAY MAG is published by AquaScope Media ApS 

Frederiksberg, Denmark 

www.xray-mag.com 

contents 

PUBLISHER 

& EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Peter Symes 

Editor@xray-mag.com 

PUBLISHER / EDITOR 

& CREATIVE DIRECTOR 

Gunild Symes 

Gunild@xray-mag.com 

Associate editors 

& representatives: 

Americas: 

Arnold Weisz 

Arnold@xray-mag.com 

Russia Editors & Reps: 

Andrey Bizyukin PhD, Moscow 

Andrey@xray-mag.com 

Svetlana Murashkina PhD, Moscow 

Svetlana@xray-mag.com 

South East Asia Editor & Rep: 

Catherine GS Lim, Singapore 

Cat@xray-mag.com 

ASSISTANT editors 

& representatives: 

Malaysia Editor & Rep: 

Simon Kong, Kuala Lumpur 

Simon@xray-mag.com 

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GirlDiver Editor & PNW Rep: 

Cindy Ross, Tacoma, USA 

Cindy@xray-mag.com 

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COVER PHOTO: Two Squids, Sulawesi, Indonesia 

by Eric Hanauer 

(Continued on page 4) 

SENIOR EDITOR 

Michael Symes 

science@xray-mag.com 

SECTION EDITORS 

Andrey Bizyukin, PhD - Features 

Arnold Weisz - News, Features 

Catherine Lim - News, Books 

Simon Kong - News, Books 

Mathias Carvalho - Wrecks 

Cindy Ross - GirlDiver 

Scott Bennett - Photo & Travel 

Michael Arvedlund - Ecology 

Correspondents 

Robert Aston - CA, USA 

Enrico Cappeletti - Italy 

John Collins - Ireland 

Marcelo Mammana - Argentina 

Nonoy Tan - The Philippines 

Contributors this issue 

Scott Bennett 

Michel Braunstein 

Mathias Carvalho 

Wayne Fenior 

Eric Hanauer 

Kelly LaClaire 

Catherine GS Lim 

Bonnie McKenna 

Caelum Mero 

Andy Murch 

Mark Powell 

Don Silcock 

Robert Sterner 

Gunild Symes 

Peter Symes 

Carol Tedesco 

Lawson Wood 

Further information: contacts 

page at www. xray-mag.com 

Pacific Red Octopus. Photo by Andy Murch 

27 

Utila Is l a n d 

Ho n d u r a s 

by Sc o t t Be n n e t t 

64 

Ec o l o g y: 

Ce p h a l o p o d s 

by Ja m e s Wo o d 

columns... 

75 

Bo o k Lo g 

by Ro b e r t Sterner 

43 

Su l a w e s i 

In d o n e s i a 

by Eric Ha n a u e r 

89 

Pi n k Do l p h i n s 

o f the Am a z o n 

by Mi c he l Br a u n s t e i n 

76 

Sh a r k s: A Lesson 

Fr o m Mo t h e r Na t u r e 

by An d y Mu r c h 

49 

No r t h Su l a w e s i 

In d o n e s i a 

by Do n Si l c o c k 

93 

Po r t f o l i o: 

Ca e l u m Mero 

editted by Gu n i l d Sy m e s 

80 

Te c h Ta l k: Te c h n i c a l 

Diving Eq u i p me n t 

by Ma r k Po w e l l 

85 

UW Ph o t o: 

Field Wo r k 

by La w s o n Wo o d 

59 

Di ve Wa t c h e s 

Editted by Peter Sy m e s 

& Kelly LaCl a i re 

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EDITORIAL 3 

NEWS 5 

WRECK RAP 19 

TRAVEL NEWS 24 

EQUIPMENT NEWS 56 

WHALE TALES 73 

BOOKS & MEDIA 75 

SHARK TALES 76 

TURTLE TALES 84 

PHOTO NEWS 86 

2 X-RAY MAG : 38 : 2010 

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3 X-RAY MAG : 38 : 2010 

A M B I E N T P R E S S U R E D I V I N G 

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Image by Ray van Eeden of Prodivers, Kuredu, Maldives 

Cephalopods are such fascinating 

and seductive creatures, 

with a weird and alien anatomy. 

Octopuses are molluscs, a seemingly 

primitive animal group 

that includes clams and slugs. 

Yet, they are capable of some 

rather brainy feats such as observational 

learning and solving 

puzzles—skills supposedly seen 

only in higher vertebrates with 

sophisticated brains. 

In recent years, we have come 

to understand how much we 

have in common with not only 

our closest relatives, the other primates 

but also the large marine 

mammals. While we can probably 

never know for sure what 

they feel, their physiological 

and behavioural responses are 

similar to ours. The same stress 

hormones get released when the 

animal gets spooked or is in pain. 

mam- 

mates 

young 

have 

tightly 

Marine 

mals and prinurture 

their 

and 

Andy Murch 

knit family structures 

with a social 

hierarchy and 

rules that serve to 

make the group 

stronger including 

using rewards 

and punishments 

to teach and 

discipline their 

young. And since 

acquired knowledge 

seems to 

be passed on 

from generation 

to generation, 

some researchers 

even talk about 

some species 

having culture. 

In the Arctic, pods of orcas have 

been observed orchestrating 

and coordinating complex attacks 

whereby they in full synchronicity 

move to create a big 

wave, which washes a sea lion 

of a icefloat. One can only wonder 

how they communicate and 

coordinate such a complex manoeuvre 

requiring a very precise 

timing. How did they come 

to think of it and think it 

through 

It’s very clear from observations 

of cephalopods that they 

are also extremely intelligent 

animals with an 

anatomically complex 

brain, but what goes on 

in an octopus’ thoughts, 

“I am one clever sucker” 

“Greetings biped” 

will require a huge leap of the 

imagination. After all, the brains 

of animals like the octopus 

evolved entirely separately from 

the brains of the vertebrates, 

and they have an entirely different 

design—perhaps they also 

have a unique form of intelligence. 

And here is a mindboggling 

thought: Since they are also very 

social creatures, does that imply 

that regardless of underlying 

construction that all creatures 

during their evolution converge 

towards the same sort of higher 

understanding of their environment 

and universe we live in ■ 

EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED

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Regarding news from NAUI in X-RAY 

MAG: This issue of X-RAY MAG and 

others may include news and press 

releases from NAUI in sections designated 

by the NAUI logo. While the 

page design is done by X-RAY MAG 

as an integrated part of the magazine, 

these news stories are brought to 

you by NAUI at NAUI’s discretion. 

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4 X-RAY MAG : 38 : 2010

News edited 

by Peter Symes 

& Catherine G S Lim 

It’s all the rage 

NEWS 

Your new companion under water 

UEMIS SDA 

The most user friendly dive computer 

Chris Jewell 

John Volanthen (filehoto) 

UK-led cave diving record in Spain 

Rick Stanton 

Explorers Jason Mallinson, Rick 

Stanton and John Volanthen, 

along with Dutch caver Rene 

Houben, charted new territory 

in a 50-hour voyage which 

saw them spend two nights 

camped deep underground. 

By venturing 8.8km (5.5 miles) 

into the Pozo Azul cave system 

in Norhern Spain, the 

British-led team beat the 

7.8km (4.8 mile) world record 

for the longest cave dive 

penetration, set last year at 

Wakulla Springs in Florida. 

Pozo Azul (Blue Pot) in 

Northern Spain is, as the 

name suggests, a deep blue 

karst spring. The entrance 

is a welcoming clear blue 

basin, which is much visited 

by tourists. The cave behind 

the spring is filled with water 

and only accessible to cave 

divers. It is widely considered 

one of the best caves in 

which to train. 

“It’s an incredible buzz to 

explore further than anyone 

has been ever before,” 

Jason Mallinson was quoted 

by Metro UK. “There was no 

wildlife down there, just a 

tunnel of crystal blue clear 

water stretching on and on. 

The adrenaline builds when 

you realise you are looking at 

something nobody has ever 

seen before. It’s that which 

drives you forward.” 

The team began their twoand-a-half 

day foray into the 

Pozo Azul caves in Covenera, 

northern Spain, on Saturday. 

They used underwater scooters 

to propel them through 

three sumps, or underwater 

passages. 

After sump two, they 

emerged in a small dry cave 

area nicknamed Tipperary. 

It was there they spent two 

nights resting and replenishing 

their underwater breathing 

mixtures. ■ 

5 X-RAY MAG : 38 : 2010 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED

news 

www.demashow.com 

Fishing skews sex ratio in fish 

Peter Symes 

Population collapses in 

many species of reef 

fish may be linked to an 

excess of males brought 

about by fishing — a situation 

that a quota system 

won’t remedy. In many 

species, particularly those 

where individuals can 

change their sex, each 

fish produces fewer young 

as the population 

density drops. 

To find out why this happens, Stefan 

Walker of James Cook University 

tagged 232 cylindrical sandperches 

(Parapercis cylindrica) 

in a Great Barrier Reef 

lagoon, and followed 

their movements and 

reproductive behaviour. 

Cylindrical sandperches 

are born female, but 

some later change into 

males, with harems of 

two to ten females. 

Walker saw more sex 

changes in regions where 

fish populations were low. 

This led to more males holding court 

to fewer females and a drop in the 

number of eggs laid 

per square metre 

of lagoon. 

The finding is likely to apply to at 

least 70 other sex-changing reef fish, 

including many commonly caught 

species, said Walker, 

“It’s perplexing, 

because as population 

density drops, 

more resources 

should be available 

and populations 

should increase.” 

and suggested that 

marine protected areas 

are a better strategy for 

conserving populations 

than fishing quotas. 

Protected areas maintain 

the density of 

populations whereas 

quotas may still allow 

populations to decline, 

increasing the rate of 

sex change. 

Many species of fishes are hermaphrodites. 

Some, such as the painted 

comber (Serranus scriba), are synchronous 

hermpahrodites. These fish 

have both ovaries and testes and 

can produce both eggs and sperm 

at the same time. Others are sequential 

hermaphrodites. 

These fishes start life as one sex 

and undergo a genetically 

programmed sex change at 

some point during development. 

Their gonads 

have both ovarian and 

testicular tissues, with 

one type of tissue predominant 

while the fish 

belongs to the corresponding 

gender. ■ 

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Source: The American Naturalist, DOI: 10.1086/655219. 

Painted comber 

(Serranus scriba) 


news 

Florida Dive Instructor Allen Sherrod falls short on 

attempt at breaking the Guinness World Records mark 

for the longest scuba dive in open fresh water. 

DISABLED 

DIVERS 

INTERNATIONAL 

Supplied 

During the attempt for a new world record, Ivan maintained constant depth of 7-8 meters 

Bulgarian Ivan Zhelerezov sets a 

new world record for salt water dive 

The 27-year-old NAUI 

instructor, spent 50 

hours and two minutes 

under water, 

setting a new world 

record for the Longest 

Open Saltwater 

Scuba Dive. 

The record is dedicated to 

the National Association 

of Underwater Instructors 

(NAUI), which celebrates its 

50th anniversary this year. 

The previous record was set 

by Will Goodman from the 

United Kingdom, who managed 

48 hours, 9 minutes 

and 17 seconds. 

The attempt for setting a 

new world record began 

on 27 August 2010 at 1:46 

pm, when Ivan Zhelezarov 

was submerged to a depth 

of 8m in the sea near Kiten. 

During the first 24 hours 

under water, Zhelezarov 

was accompanied by a 

support diver at all times, 

while later on, he was provided 

support by two divers 

and a doctor. Despite the 

difficulties, especially during 

the two nights when 

the conditions were the 

hardest, the enthusiast 

managed to hold on. Ivan 

returned to the surface at 

3:48 pm today after spending 

50 hours and two minutes 

under water. He is in 

good health, and after taking 

a necessary break, he 

will be back in shape and 

ready for new achievements. 

Ivan had no physical 

contact with the surface 

at anytime during his time 

underwater, while his support 

crew replenished his 

air supply when necessary. 

The support team for the 

dive included nine divers. 

By taking turns, each diver 

spent time under water 

with Ivan and supplied him 

with new air bottles at intervals 

of 90 minutes. Ivan’s 

physical condition was 

constantly monitored by a 

team of physicians. 

Ivan was equipped with 

a drysuit and nutrition was 

provided to him in liquid 

form. The dive was made 

using open circuit scuba. 

During the attempt for a 

new world record, Ivan 

maintained constant depth 

of 7-8 meters using a specially 

built underwater platform. 

The entire attempt 

was recorded on camera. 

■ 

Sherrod was underwater 

for a total of 111 hours, 

just nine hours short of 

the world record mark 

set by Jerry Hall in 2004 

in a Tennessee lake. 

Sherrod dove 

into Lake David 

on Sept. 27 but 

said he had 

to resurface 

Friday because 

of hypothermia. 

On this second attempt, 

a support 

team was assisting 

Sherrod with 

knowledge gained 

from the first dive 

which was aborted 

because Sherrod 

contracted the flu 

and surfaced for 

medical safety. 

Discomforts such 

as chapped and 

cracked hands because 

of constant 

water submersion 

are being averted 

via a full dry-suit now 

equipped with dry 

gloves. Music (classic 

rock mix), was 

being sent down to 

Allen Sherrod 

(left) with his 

Course Director 

NAUI National 

Territory 

Manager Chad 

Barbay 

Sherrod via underwater speakers 

to help fight the boredom 

of the six day dive. The team 

was also delivering water and 

a small amount of food puree 

each day to keep his nutrition 

level up. 

With this marathon dive, Sherrod 

wants to raise awareness of how 

important it is to maintain and 

improve the quality of Florida’s 

fresh water local fresh water 

lakes. Full report by Wayne Fenior 

on xray-mag.com 

Allen Sherrod with NAUI National Territory Manager Chad Barbay 

Wayne Fenior 

Wayne Fenior 

WWW.DDIVERS.ORG 

PHOTO: DAVID PILOSOF 

ABLE 

TO 

DIVE 

WWW.DDIVERS.ORG 


news 

Peter Symes 

Celebrating healthy living, 

a healthy planet, peaceable 

& sustainable communities. 

F L O R I D A K E Y S , N O V E M B E R 1 t h r u 7 , 2 0 1 0 

Three Sisters Springs Manatees protected 

Threatened by the prospect of 

development for years, Three 

Sisters Springs in Crystal River, 

Florida, recently became a 

protected, national wildlife refuge 

thanks to a multi-agency 

purchase deal, which puts the 

springs under the management 

of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

More than 150 manatees assemble 

within the warm springs 

of the area, known as Three 

Sisters Springs, for calving and 

feeding during the winter months 

and during critical cold weather 

periods. 

The 57.8 acres of land were 

recently purchased for US$10.5 

million from Three Sisters 

Holdings, LLC. The acquisition 

more than doubles the size of 

the refuge and stops the residential 

development planned 

on the property. 

The protected area will be 

owned by the city of Crystal 

River and the Southwest Florida 

Water Management District. The 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will 

manage the site as part of the 

Crystal River National Wildlife 

Refuge. ■ 

Mel Fischer’s Maritime Museum’s robbed of gold bar 

Spend a week enjoying the natural 

wonders of the Florida Keys! 

Join us in celebrating environmental preservation by 

swimming, diving or snorkeling with our underwater 

neighbors. You can kayak, paddleboard, kiteboard 

or just play on the beach. Watch beautiful nightly 

sunsets and enjoy fabulous fresh sustainable seafood 

for dinner. Above or below the water, your favorite 

activities can be found! 

T h e r e w i l l b e p l e n t y t o s e e a n d d o 

e v e r y d a y a t E c o W e e k ! 

Partial list of events: 

Kayak Poker Run 

Kayak Nature Tours 

Everglades Kayaking Scavenger Hunt 

Recycle Art Show 

Underwater Scooter Races 

Green Market 

Alternative Fuel Challenge 

Paddle Board Races 

Alternative Energy Expo 

Lionfish Safari Hunt 

Coral Restoration 

Underwater Scooter Races 

Organic Progressive Wine Dinner 

Environmental Comic Relief Swami 

Healthy Living Expo 

Environmental Summit 

Green Home Living Expo 

Blue/Green Expo 

Green Business Expo 

Recycled Art Show 

FIRM Bicycle Race 

w w w . E c o W e e k F l o r i d a K e y s . c o m 

For 25 years, visitors to the Mel 

Fisher Maritime Museum in Key 

West, Florida, had the opportunity 

to lift a US$550,000 gold bar 

in a special display case. The 

bar was recovered in 1980 from 

the Santa Margarita shipwreck— 

a Spanish galleon off the Florida 

Keys, which Fisher discovered, 

according to the museum’s 

website. The ship was one of 

eight to sink in a 1622 hurricane 

and was filled with gold bars, 

jewelry and silver coins. 

On August 18 around 5:15 p.m 

two bandits stole the 11-inch, 

74.85-ounce gold bar. Security 

footage shows the suspects 

breaking into the case. No 

visitors or security guards were 

present. Detectives from Key 

West Police and the U.S. Federal 

Bureau of Investigation are trying 

to identify the two men who 

walked into the gallery room 

around 5:10 p.m. The police 

believe one of the men served 

as a lookout in the small gallery 

room. Investigators are also looking 

at fingerprints on the display 

case, but they may be of visitors 

unconnected to the heist. 

The museum’s insurance company 

has offered a US$10,000 

reward for the return of the 16.5- 

karat gold bar, The uniqueness 

of the piece places the bar’s 

value at $550,000, Kendrick said. 

“Having the [insurance] money 

in its place would not be a winner 

for me,” Kendrick told CNN. 

So far, there has been no 

news on the recovery. ■ 

SPONSORED BY 

 

 

 

 

XRay-Mag.com 

NA-AUG2010 | GRAPHICS: WWW.ECOMEDIAMARKETING.COM 


news 

New Submarine Runs 

Eternally on Thermal Power 

from Ocean Currents 

Researchers have successfully demonstrated the first robotic underwater 

vehicle to be powered entirely by natural, renewable, ocean 

thermal energy. It traps thermal energy from the ocean each time 

it moves from deep cold water to waters on a warmer surface. 

The Sounding Oceano graphic 

Lagrangrian Observer 

Thermal RECharging (SOLO- 

TREC) autonomous underwater 

vehicle uses a novel 

thermal recharging engine 

powered by the natural 

temperature differences 

found at different ocean 

depths. Scalable for use 

on most robotic oceanographic 

vehicles, this technology 

breakthrough could 

usher in a new generation 

of autonomous underwater 

vehicles capable of virtually 

indefinite 

ocean monitoring 

for climate 

and marine 

animal studies, 

exploration and 

surveillance. 

Researchers 

at NASA’s Jet 

Propulsion 

Laboratory, 

Pasadena, 

California; 

and the 

“People have 

long dreamed 

of a machine 

that produces 

more energy 

than it consumes 

and 

runs indefinitely.” 

Scripps Institution of 

Oceanography, University 

of California, San Diego, 

completed the first three 

months of an ocean 

endurance test of the 

prototype vehicle off the 

coast of Hawaii in March. 

“While not a true perpetual 

motion machine, since 

we actually consume 

some environmental energy, 

the prototype system 

demonstrated by JPL and 

its partners can continuously 

monitor the 

ocean without a 

limit on its lifetime 

imposed by energy 

supply,” said 

Jack Jones, a JPL 

principal engineer 

and SOLO-TREC 

co-principal investigator. 

■ 

The SOLO-TREC diver is the latest robot 

unveiled by NASA. The new ocean-going 

robot is the first of its kind to be fueled 

entirely by renewable energy 

Ocean Conveyor Belt model needs a rethink 

The accepted picture of how a massive oceanic conveyor belt of water turns has been complicated 

by findings published in Nature Geoscience. The results could help to boost the precision 

of climate-change models. 

For decades, oceanographers have 

embraced the idea that Earth’s ocean 

currents operate like a giant conveyor 

belt, overturning to continuously transport 

deep, cold polar waters toward 

the equator and warm equatorial surface 

waters back toward the poles 

along narrow boundary currents. The 

model held that the conveyor belt was 

driven by changes in the temperature 

and salinity of 

the surface 

waters at high 

latitudes. 

As tropical 

water from the 

Equator flows 

north in the Atlantic 

Ocean, it 

becomes cooler 

and denser. 

Evaporation 

along the way 

makes it saltier 

and further 

increases its 

density. In the 

frigid Arctic, the 

water sinks into 

the depths and 

then moves 

southward, 

returning to the 

surface once it 

has warmed up 

again. 

But this simplified 

picture of 

what is known as meridional overturning 

circulation (MOC) has been brought 

into question by a paper suggesting 

that, in the past 50 years, ocean circulation 

closer to the Equator has grown 

weaker, whereas the northern waters 

have flowed more strongly. 

“The more we look, the more complicated 

the ocean is,” said Susan Lozier, 

professor of physical oceanography 

and chair of the Division of Earth and 

Ocean Sciences at Duke University’s Nicholas 

School of the Environment, and 

lead author of the study. 

This map shows the pattern of thermohaline circulation also known as “meridional 

overturning circulation”. This collection of currents is responsible for the large-scale 

exchange of water masses in the ocean, including providing oxygen to the deep 

ocean. The entire circulation pattern takes ~2000 years. 

“The old model is no longer valid for 

the ocean’s overturning, not because 

it’s a gross simplification, but because it 

ignores crucial elements such as eddies 

and the wind field. The concept of a 

conveyor belt for the overturning was 

developed decades ago, before oceanographers 

had measured the eddy 

field of the ocean and before they 

understood how energy from the wind 

impacts the overturning,” said Lozier. 

The idea of the seas moving as a 

smooth belt is being changed by the 

accessibility of satellite data, added 

oceanographer Joël 

Hirschi, also at the National 

Oceanography 

Centre and a co-author 

of the earlier study. 

The essential outline 

remains, he said, “but 

on top of that conveyor 

picture, there is a lot of 

variability going on”. 

NASA 

More details would 

help to produce better 

climate-change models, 

he said. Because 

heat released from the 

water moving towards 

the pole is part of what 

keeps Europe warm, filling 

in gaps in the data 

could provide a more 

complete picture of 

what might happen in 

particular locations. 

Lozier agreed, adding 

that as surface waters 

turn over, they carry 

whatever gases are 

above them down to 

the deep ocean, locking them out of 

the atmosphere. Understanding the 

ocean flow could help to reveal carbon 

dioxide sinks, she said. ■ 

source: Nature Geoscience 


news 

Highly 

invasive 

gammarid shrimp discovered 

by anglers in 

Cambridgeshire. Biologists 

currently conducting tests to determine 

the severity of the problem. 

The highly invasive gammarid 

shrimp, Dikerogammarus villosus, 

has been discovered by 

anglers at Grafham Water in 

Cambridgeshire. Boasting a fearsome 

set of jaws, the invasive 

gammarid shrimp originate in 

Eastern Europe and are far larger 

than United Kingdom’s native 

species. The shrimps were confirmed 

as likely to be the killer 

species after samples were sent 

to the Environment Agency. An 

expert in Holland has now conclusively 

identified the species. 

Aggressive hunters, they feed 

on native freshwater shrimp, damselflies, 

small fish and water boatmen—common 

sights on Britain’s 

lakes and rivers—and could upset 

the delicate food chain. The 

shrimp often kill without feeding 

and can quickly dominate rivers 

and lakes. 

Biologists are “I am 

currently conducting 

tests to determine 

the severity 

of the problem 

and what measures 

need to be 

taken. Although 

the shrimp pose 

no risk to drinking 

water supplies, 

anglers using the 

reservoir are being 

urged to make sure the invasive 

species does not spread elsewhere. 

“I am extremely concerned to 

hear that this highly invasive species 

has been found in Britain,” 

stated Richard Benyon, the minister 

in charge of the natural 

environment. “Anglian Water has 

acted quickly to put biosecurity 

measures in place, and the 

Alien shrimp 

infiltrate 

UK waters 

extremely concerned 

to hear 

that this highly 

invasive 

species has 

been found in 

Britain.” 

Environment Agency is working 

hard to establish the extent of 

the problem and what action 

may need to be taken. We need 

to do everything we can to 

protect our native wildlife and 

young fish from the potential 

damage the killer shrimp can 

cause.” 

Paul Leinster, chief executive 

of the Environment Agency, 

said: “We are devastated that 

this shrimp has been found in 

Britain, and very grateful to the 

keen-eyed anglers who found 

it.” 

Posters have been put up 

warning boat users to check 

their equipment and vessels to 

stop the shrimp escaping to other 

reservoirs, lakes or rivers. Native to 

a region encompassing Romania, 

Moldova, Ukraine, Russia and 

Kazakhstan, the shrimp have 

already invaded Western Europe 

via the Danube. It is believed they 

have been spread via the ballast 

water in ships. ■ 

Dutch government funds coral 

nurseries in the Netherlands 

The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has recently selected 

the development of a coral nursery for financial endorsement from a short-list of 

innovative projects and technologies aimed at protecting biodiversity. 

Soon, construction of a smallscale 

coral aquaculture facility 

will commence, after which the 

cost-effectiveness of the facility 

will be determined during 

an 18-month period. Two years 

from now, the first high-quality, 

sustainably cultured corals may 

find their way to wholesalers and 

retail stores around the globe. 

Coral reefs today are faced 

with unprecedented threats, 

including climate change, pollution, 

disease, overfishing and 

coastal development. The 

marine aquarium industry, which 

in great part relies on the collection 

of wild corals, fish and other 

reef organisms, has been under 

great pressure of late due to the 

decline of coral reefs worldwide. 

The sustainable aquaculture of 

corals and other reef organisms 

may be more important than 

ever, reducing pressure on wild 

populations and providing a 

“Noah’s Ark” for endangered 

species. 

Aquaculture 

The establishment of a coral 

aquaculture facility is a welcome 

accomplishment in the 

International Year of Biodiversity. 

However, sustainable, aquaculture 

of corals has never been 

implemented on a large scale 

due to the high costs involved. 

As Peter Henkemans, CEO of 

EcoDeco a company which 

develops and builds biological 

filtration systems for public 

aquaria, explains: “Growing corals 

is highly expensive, which is 

why most efforts have focused 

on mariculture. By letting nature 

do the work, costs can be greatly 

reduced. Mariculture however 

has several disadvantages. First, 

the ocean 

behaves in 

an unpredictable 

fashion. El 

Niño events for 

example may 

lead to coral 

bleaching 

and destructive 

tropical 

storms, which 

can decimate 

entire harvests. 

Second, 

anthropogenic 

disturbances 

such as pollution, 

including 

oil spills, may 

also disrupt 

the efforts of 

local Asian 

mariculture 

companies. 

EcoDeco’s 

technology 

however, 

together with 

new scientific 

insights, 

offers new 

perspectives. 

In an ex situ 

aquaculture 

facility, corals are able to grow 

under stable, controlled conditions. 

At the heart of the Coral 

Greenhouse project lies the 

unique combination of new 

aquarium technology with 

recent scientific advances in 

coral biology. ■ 

Octocorals are named for the eight tentacles 

that fringe each polyp. Shown is a soft coral, 

Dendronephthya, from coral gardens off Lizard Island 

Gary Cranitch, Queensland Museum 


news 

Annapolis Reef Project Put on Hold 

Text by Barb Roy 

British Columbia, Canada — Due 

to unforeseen technicalities in the 

Provincial permit process for sinking 

a ship, Howe Sound will have 

to wait a while longer for their 

new wreck diving site, designated 

for Halkett Bay on Gambier Island. 

Representatives from the Artificial 

Reef Society of British Columbia 

(ARSBC) and the Dive Industry 

Association of British Columbia 

(DIABC) are currently meeting 

with government officials to work 

out the legalities and come to a 

positive solution as soon as possible. 

“The entire dive community is 

behind this project,” comments 

Kal Helyar, President of the DIABC 

and owner of Porpoise Bay 

Charters in Egmont. “We have 

all wanted a ship in Howe Sound 

for years and the underwater terrain 

is similar to what we had in 

Sechelt Inlet where the Chaudiere 

was put down —both were 

once log dumping grounds. The 

Chaudiere provided a stable platform 

for marine life to grow on. It’s 

now a healthy underwater area, 

which is what 

can happen in 

Halkett Bay too.” 

Background 

In June of 2008 

the ARSBC 

towed the HMCS 

Annapolis (271 

feet in length) 

to Howe Sound 

where it began 

to undergo its 

transformation 

from a ship of 

war to an underwater 

habitat for marine life. 

Since then the ARSBC has utilized 

volunteers from British Columbia, 

Alberta and Washington State to 

environmentally clean and prepare 

the ship for sinking. 

What sets this ex-military ship 

apart from the other large ships in 

five destinations around coastal 

BC is the helicopter hanger. This 

steam-powered destroyer escort 

once carried anti-submarine Sea 

King helicopters, which were used 

to extend surveillance capabilities 

of a ship and find surface vessels 

in the dark during times of war. 

Rockfish oasis 

Although the northwest dive community 

is excited about getting a 

wreck so close to the Mainland, 

they are also thrilled with the 

idea of how this new reef of steel 

will aid in their efforts to restore 

endangered Howe Sound rockfish 

populations. 

Previous observations by divers 

have suggested that other artificial 

reefs (ships) around Canada 

have provided a needed shelter 

and habitat in their individual 

areas, creating a noticeable 

increase in marine residents. This 

is also true for other juvenile fish 

species like lingcod, cabezon and 

wolf-eels thus enhancing an overall 

replenishment of the aquatic 

realm. 

“I have been in contact with 

many of the retailers and charter 

operators,” adds Deirdre Forbes- 

McCracken, spokesperson for 

the ARSBC and co-owner of the 

retail dive centre Ocean Quest 

in Burnaby. “They have told me 

that over the years have seen the 

direct benefits these reefs bring to 

their businesses and communities 

as well the enjoyment they bring 

to the divers of British Columbia, 

the United States and abroad 

while being positive for the environment.” 

Ship prep 

At this point, a sinking date is 

still undecided but the spring 

of 2011 is a realistic possibility. 

Nonetheless, it is still business-asusual 

on the Annapolis and the 

ARSBC is still in need of volunteers 

to continue preparing the 

ship. Work is conducted on the 

weekends with Deirdre Forbes- 

McCracken handling the schedules. 

Individuals and groups are 

encouraged to contact Deirdre 

to schedule a volunteer workday 

or weekend. Volunteers meet at 

8:00am in Horseshoe Bay, with 

free transportation to and from 

the ship. Contact Deirdre at: oq@ 

diveoceanquest.com or dmccracken@artificialreef.bc.ca. 

For more information, visit: 

www.artificialreefbc.ca 

www.diveindustrybc.com ■ 


news 

THIS PAGE: Children 

participate in a Try 

Out Scuba session 

during the launch 

in August of Kids 

Scuba Denmark at 

the Naerum Sports 

Complex in Denmark 

Kids Scuba Launched in Denmark 

A group of children and teenagers 

ranging from eight to 12 years old, took 

part in the newly launched Kids Scuba 

Denmark Program by completing their 

Try Out Scuba Discovery dive at the 

Naerum (Rundforbi) Sports Complex in 

Denmark in August this year. The children 

did their Try Out Scuba sessions in teams 

of two under the direct supervision of the 

Scuba Rangers instructors. They dived 

underwater in a saltwater pool with full 

scuba gear for about 30 minutes. 

“The kids are part of the Scuba 

Rangers Program, the First Scuba 

Rangers Club in Denmark, which is a children’s 

education program of the Scuba 

School International (SSI) Scuba training 

program that specializes in teaching kids 

ages eight to 12 years old,” said Nick 

J. Visser, director and Scuba Rangers 

instructor of Kids Scuba Denmark. 

Syed Abd Rahman with students in try dive 

Kids Scuba Denmark is the only children’s 

scuba school in the country. The 

Kids Scuba Discovery program brought 

together 16 children and teens in total. 

Taking part in the launch of Kids Scuba 

Denmark was dive education professional, 

Syed Abd Rahman, the director 

of Kids Scuba Malaysia—the largest of 

its kind in the world with over 100 children 

as members. Rahman is a Scuba 

Rangers Instructor Trainer, who flew in 

specially from Malaysia to assist with the 

launch of the program. 

“The Kids Scuba program is not only 

excellent for children and families, it is 

also a good form of family bonding. 

Families can look forward to enjoying a 

professionally organised program so that 

they can focus on participating in activities 

and much more,” said Rahman during 

the launch. 

The Kids Scuba 

program also educates 

the kids on 

marine awareness 

with marine environment 

education 

through a series of 

video presentations 

before the childen 

get into the pool 

with the instructors. 

All children 

and teenagers are 

taught to respect 

marine life and as 

divers; they pledge 

to conserve the 

underwater world. 

All 12 children 

participating in 

the session completed the Kids Scuba 

Discovery program with a smile on their 

faces after receiving their certificate of 

completion at the end of the program. 

The presentation of the certificate was 

witnessed by the SSI (Scuba Schools 

International) Nordic Regional Director, 

Ole Skjaerbaek, who came personally 

to oversee the launch of Kids Scuba 

Denmark. Skjaerbaek said that for the 

children, the achievement of scuba 

diving is the ultimate experience. “It is 

something that even adults might not 

be able to do, and it definitely gives the 

kids a great sense of achievement.” 

One of the biggest challenges of conducting 

a Kids Scuba program of this 

kind is bringing the families together. 

Visser said that it was an achievement 

to have parents and their children 

bonding, sharing their love of the sport, 

and enjoying a fantastic family day out 

without interruptions. 

“And of course, the logistics is another 


news 

THIS PAGE: Scenes from the Kids 

Scuba Denmark launch at the 

Naerum Sports Complex in Denmark 

Quotes from the parents and kids: 

“Thanks for a great Sunday. Felix was so worked up 

afterward—he simply just loved it. I would like Felix 

to join the sessions together with his friend Rasmus.” 

“Thanks a lot—Atash just couldn’t stop talking 

about how great it was and wore his t-shirt all night 

yesterday. Your friend was truly a great teacher! 

“That was really great. Thanks. Sara really enjoyed 

it and Syed. Please sign Sara up for the Scuba 

Ranger Programme.” 

complicated story,” he added with a 

laugh. “But what is important is that the 

children feel they have accomplished 

something wonderful with an experience 

that will take them a long way in life.” 

A Kids Scuba session with the Scuba 

Rangers program will be conducted 

every second Sunday on September 5, 

19 and 26 in 2010. It will be held at the 

Naerum (Rundvorbi) Sports Complex. The 

Kids Scuba Denmark program was assisted 

by the SSI Nordic Region, Kids Scuba 

Malaysia, Hana Sea Sports and Oceanic 

Dive Consultant. 

About the program 

Kids Scuba Denmark is the first awardwinning 

certified SSI (Scuba School 

International) Scuba Rangers Club dedicated 

to conducting SSI Scuba Rangers 

courses for children ages 8-12 in the 

Nordic region. The school was founded 

and organised in Denmark by Visser, a 

qualified SSI Scuba Rangers Instructor 

who did his training 

for three 

years as a Scuba 

Rangers Instructor 

in Malaysia. 

Children are 

exposed to basic 

scuba education, 

snorkeling 

techniques and 

elementary scuba 

diving skills, graduating 

to beach 

and shallow dives 

during organized 

Kids Scuba 

Camps, which will 

be held in June 

and July 2011. Kids 

Scuba Denmark 

integrates care 

and conservation 

of marine life 

in all its materials 

imparted to all its 

students as part of 

its programme. 

Kids Scuba Denmark 

will organize a number 

of camps to the various 

dive destinations in the tropical climate 

and warm waters of Asia with the cooperation 

of Kids Scuba Malaysia, which 

organizes camps four times per year 

at the beautiful marine park islands of 

Malaysia and Borneo. 

Awards received by Kids Scuba 

Denmark include the Award for 

Success for the Scuba Rangers 

and Kids Scuba Camp at Mabul 

Sipadan Island in Sabah Malaysia 

in December of 2009 and the 

Award for Success for the first 

successful Kids Scuba Denmark 

program organized in the Nordic 

Region. 

For more information on Kids 

Scuba Denmark and its courses 

at Naerum (Rundforbi) Sports 

Complex every second Sunday, 

log on to www.kidsscuba.dk or 

email Nick Visser at jv@kidsscuba.dk, 

telephone: (+45) 99 55 

82 32 (Nick) or (+45) 50 62 21 41 

(Mette). ■ 

At the Malaysia International Dive 

Expo 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Syed 

Abd Rahman accepted an award 

from King Tuanku Mizan for Kids 

Scuba Malaysia for being the most 

successful Scuba Rangers program 

in the world, while show organizer, 

Thayalan Kennedy (far left) looks 

on. Two of the King’s children are 

also Scuba Rangers 


news 

Salps’ role extends to removing carbon 

dioxide from upper ocean and atmosphere. 

What if trains, planes and automobiles 

all were powered simply by 

the air through which they move 

What if their exhaust and byproducts 

helped the environment 

Such an energy-efficient, selfpropelling 

mechanism already 

exists in nature. The salp—a small, 

barrel-shaped organism that 

resembles a streamlined jellyfish— 

gets everything it needs from 

ocean waters to feed and propel 

itself. Scientists 

believe its 

waste material 

may help 

remove carbon 

dioxide 

(CO 2 

) from 

the upper 

ocean and the 

atmosphere. 

Now researchers 

at the Woods Hole 

Oceanographic 

Institution (WHOI) 

and MIT have 

found that the 

half-inch to 5-inchlong 

creatures 

are even more 

efficient than had 

been believed. 

Salps are the most efficient 

filter-feeder in the deep 

“This innovative research is 

providing an understanding of 

how a key organism in marine 

food webs affects important 

biogeochemical processes,” 

said David Garrison, director 

of the National Science 

Foundation (NSF)’s biological 

oceanography program, which 

funded the research. 

Reporting this week in the 

journal Proceedings of the 

National Academy of Sciences 

(PNAS), the scientists have 

found that mid-ocean-dwelling 

salps are capable of capturing 

and eating extremely small 

organisms as well as larger 

ones, rendering them even 

hardier— 

and perhaps 

more 

plentiful— 

than had 

been 

believed. 

“We 

had long 

thought 

that salps were about 

the most efficient 

filter-feeders in the 

ocean,” said Larry 

Madin, WHOI Director 

of Research and one 

of the paper’s authors. 

“But these results 

extend their impact 

down to the smallest 

available size fraction, 

showing they consume 

particles spanning 

four orders of 

magnitude in size. This 

is like eating everything from a mouse to a 

horse.” 

Salp consumption 

Salps capture food particles, mostly phytoplankton, 

with an internal mucus filter net. 

Until now, it was thought that included only 

particles larger than the 1.5-micron-wide 

holes in the mesh; smaller particles would 

slip through. 

But a mathematical model suggested 

salps somehow might be capturing food 

particles smaller than that, said Kelly 

Sutherland, who co-authored the PNAS 

paper after her PhD research at MIT and 

WHOI. 

In the laboratory at WHOI, Sutherland and 

her colleagues offered salps food particles 

of three sizes: smaller, around the same size 

as, and larger than the mesh openings. 

“We found that more small particles were 

captured than expected,” said Sutherland, 

now a post-doctoral researcher at Caltech. 

“When exposed to ocean-like particle concentrations, 

80 percent of the particles that 

were captured were the smallest particles 

offered in the experiment.” 

The finding helps explain how salps — 

which can exist either singly or in “chains” 

that may contain a hundred or more—are 

Get the 

tie that 

gets you 

noticed 

www.zazzle.com/xraymag 

14 X-RAY MAG : 38 : 2010 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED 

NEW 

from 

X-RAY 

MAG 

Sting 

rays 

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lose!

able to survive in the open ocean 

where the supply of larger food 

particles is low. 

“Their ability to filter the smallest 

particles may allow them to survive 

where other grazers can’t,” said 

Madin. 

Perhaps most significantly, the 

result enhances the importance of 

the salps’ role in carbon cycling. 

As they eat small, as well as large, 

particles, “they consume the entire 

‘microbial loop’ and pack it into 

large, dense fecal pellets,” Madin 

said. 

The larger and denser the carbon-containing 

pellets, the sooner 

they sink to the ocean bottom. 

“This removes carbon from the 

surface waters,” said Sutherland, 

“and brings it to a depth where 

you won’t see it again for years to 

centuries.” 

And the more carbon that sinks 

to the bottom, the more space 

there is for the upper ocean to 

accumulate carbon, hence limiting 

the amount that rises into the 

atmosphere as CO 2 

, said paper 

co-author 

Roman 

Stocker of 

MIT. 

“The most 

important 

aspect of 

this work 

is the very 

effective 

shortcut 

that salps 

introduce in 

the process 

of particle 

aggregation,” 

Stocker said. 

“Typically, 

aggregation 

of particles 

proceeds 

slowly, by 

steps, from tiny particles coagulating 

into slightly larger ones.” 

“Now, the efficient foraging of 

salps on particles as small as a fraction 

of a micrometer introduces 

a substantial shortcut in this process, 

since digestion and excretion 

package these tiny particles into 

much larger particles, which thus 

sink a lot faster.” 

This process starts with the mesh 

made of fine mucus fibers inside 

the salp’s hollow body. 

Salps, which can live for weeks or 

months, swim and eat in rhythmic 

pulses, each of which draws seawater 

in through an opening at the 

front end of the animal. The mesh 

captures the food particles, then 

rolls into a strand and goes into the 

gut, where it is digested. 

“It was assumed that very small 

cells or particles were eaten mainly 

by other microscopic consumers, 

like protozoans, or by a few 

specialized metazoan grazers like 

appendicularians,” said Madin. 

“This research indicates that 

salps can eat much smaller organisms, 

like bacteria and the smallest 

phytoplankton, organisms that are 

numerous and widely distributed in 

the ocean.” 

The work, also funded by the 

WHOI Ocean Life Institute, “implies 

that salps are more efficient vacuum 

cleaners than we thought,” 

said Stocker. 

“Their amazing performance 

relies on a feat of bioengineering— 

the production of a nanometerscale 

mucus net—the biomechanics 

of which remain a mystery.” ■ 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


news 

Planet Ocean is richer, 

more connected, more 

altered than expected. 

all images courtesy of coml 


news 

Just released — 

First Census of Marine Life 2010: 

Highlights of a Decade of Discovery 

(CoML, 64 pages), edited by Jesse 

H. Ausubel, Darlene Trew Crist and 

Paul E. Waggoner. 

all images this page courtesy of coml 

Culminating a ten-year exploration, 2,700 scientists from 80 nations report 

the First Census of Marine Life. 

In one of 

the largest 

scientific collaborations 

ever conducted, 

more than 

2,700 Census 

scientists spent 

over 9,000 days at sea on 

more than 540 expeditions, 

plus countless 

days in labs and 

archives. 

Released yesterday are 

maps, three landmark 

books and a highlights summary 

that crown a decade of 

discovery. 

The now-completed documentation 

in books and journals, 

plus the accumulating databases 

and established websites, videos and 

photo galleries report and conclude 

the first Census. Over 

the decade, more than 

2,600 academic papers 

were published—one, on 

average, every 1.5 days. 

Presented is an unprecedented 

picture of the diversity, distribution, 

and abundance of all 

kinds of marine life in Planet 

Ocean—from microbes to 

whales, from the icy poles to the 

warm tropics, from tidal near shores 

to the deepest dark depths. 

Oceanic diversity is demonstrated 

by nearly 30 million observations of 

120,000 species organized in the 

global marine life database of the 

Census, the Ocean Biogeographic 

Information System (OBIS). The 

migrations tracked across 

seas and up and down in 

the water column, plus 

the revealed ubiquities 

of many species, demonstrate 

connections among 

oceans. Comparisons of 

the present ocean with the 

bountiful ocean life portrayed 

in old archives document 

changes. The Census established 

declines—and some 

recoveries—of marine abundance. 

The OBIS directory of 

names and addresses of 

known ocean species establishes 

a reference against 

which humanity can monitor 

21st century change. It also delineates 

the vast areas of ocean 


silver 

all images this page courtesy of coml 

that have never been explored. 

“We prevailed over early doubts that a Census was 

possible, as well as daunting extremes of nature,” said 

Australian Ian Poiner, chair of the Census Steering 

Committee. “The Age of Discovery continues.” 

“This cooperative international 21st century voyage has 

cinema of dreams 

systematically defined for 

the first time both the known 

and the vast unknown, 

unexplored ocean.” 

According to Poiner, the 

beauty, wonder, and importance 

of marine life are 

hard to overstate. 

“All surface life depends 

on life inside and beneath 

the oceans. Sea life provides 

half of our oxygen 

and a lot of our food and 

regulates climate. We are 

all citizens of the sea. And 

while much remains unknown, including at least 750,000 

undiscovered species and their roles, we are better 

acquainted now with our fellow travelers and their vast 

habitat on this globe.” ■ 

www.seacam.com 


wreck 

rap 

Solution to the Hunley 

mystery inching closer 

Wikipedia 

Scientists studying the 

mystery of the shipwreck 

of the Confederate 

submarine Hunley 

are getting closer to 

understanding what 

happened to the handcranked 

sub and its 

eight-man crew. Hunley 

archaeologists now plan 

to delicately rotate the 

submarine to an upright 

position, exposing sections 

of hull not examined 

in almost 150 years. 

Early next year the 23- 

ton sub will be delicately 

rotated to an upright 

position, exposing sections 

of hull not examined 

in almost 150 years. 

When the Hunley 

Historic British Submarine plundered 

The Holland 5, which sank six miles off Eastbourne in East Sussex in 1912 

English Heritage said 

divers stole the torpedo 

tube hatch of the Holland 

5, the only surviving 

example on the seabed 

of this class of submarine 

in the world. The theft 

was discovered during 

a licensed dive by the 

Nautical Archaeology 

Society in June and confirmed 

during a survey 

dive last month. Experts 

said a group of people 

would have been behind 

the theft but that 

the hatch carried very 

little monetary value. 

Confederate 

Submarine H.L. 

Hunley, suspended 

from a crane during 

her recovery from 

Charleston Harbor, 

8 August 2000 

sank, it was buried in 

sand listing 45 degrees 

to starboard. It was kept 

that way as slings were 

put beneath it and it 

was raised and brought 

to a conservation lab in 

North Charleston a decade 

ago. ■ 

Wikipedia 

The Holland class 

were the first submarines 

built for the Royal Navy 

ordered by the British 

Admiralty to evaluate 

the potential of the submarine 

with the Royal 

Navy. ■ 

One of the seven coins revealed during conservation 

—a choice Mexico City “piece of eight” 

Encrusted conglomeration 

yields artifacts of wealth 

and war 

Key West, Florida Keys -- The 

five pound encrusted conglomeration 

of Santa Margarita 

shipwreck artifacts discovered 

in the Florida Straits in May by 

W. Keith Webb’s Blue Water 

Ventures, though still in conservation, 

has thus far yielded 

two prime examples of 17 th 

century Spanish presence in 

the America’s— 

money and 

weaponry. The 

money appears 

in the form of 

seven silver “pieces of eight” 

treasure coins; the weaponry 

are ten “gunner’s dice.” John 

Corcoran, chief conservator 

for Mel Fisher’s Treasures—Blue 

Captain’s Dan Porter and Mike Perna examine an E.O., and encrusted artifact, which 

conservation revealed to be a partial wooden sword handle 

Four of ten “gunners dice” found in the conglomeration, still undergoing conservation 

Water’s joint venture partner— 

explained that gunner’s dice 

are approximately 1”x1” bits 

of square-cut iron that were 

wrapped into a bundle—sometimes 

mixed with pieces of broken 

spike—and 

fired from cannon. 

One never 

knows what 

might be discovered 

in a 

conglomeration 

of shipwreck 

material. Even 

though gold 

does not typically 

become 

encrusted in sea 

water, it can if it 

is near another 

metal such as 

iron, so a conglomeration 

can 

include a variety 

of artifacts, such 

as hull spikes, 

weaponry, silver and gold 

coins, chains and jewelry. 

The near-mint condition, 

Mexico City minted silver 

“piece of eight” coin in the 

accompanying photograph is 

from the conglomeration discovered 

in May by BWV diver 

Kris Goodner and represents 

one of about 80,000 coins still 

to be discovered on the sunken 

1622 Tierra Firme Fleet galleon 

Santa Margarita. Mexico 

Mint coins are particularly rare 

on the Santa Margarita as they 

were actually part of the cargo 

of an altogether different fleet, 

the New Spain Fleet—whose 

admiral made the unfortunate 

decision to transfer valuable 

coin cargo from his fleet to the 

better-armed, but doomed, 

Tierra Firme fleet ships to carry. 

For more information about 

Keith Webb’s Blue Water 

Ventures and the Santa 

Margarita shipwreck, visit www. 

bwvkw.com. ■ 


wreck 

rap 

WWII Soviet Submarine 

located in the Black Sea 

Scenes from the wreck of the Soviet submarine C-34 

Text by Milen Milanov 

27 August 2010, Bulgaria — Divers 

from the Varna Black Sea Diving 

Odesos club announced that they 

have found the Soviet submarine 

C-34, which sunk near the Bulgarian 

Black Sea coast in November 1941. 

They came across the remains during 

a dive east of Cape Galata, 

which is approximately 15 miles from 

the city of Varna. 

Up to now, the team has carried 

out two dives on the spot with the 

support of the Black Sea Sunrise 

cooperation. 

Orlin Canev from the team says 

that the submarine lies on its right 

board and that its hull is literally split 

in two. The periscope is out, which 

makes the divers believe that during 

the accident that caused the sinking 

of the Soviet submarine, it was 

at a periscope depth. 

The news of the discovery 

caused quite a few debates. Many 

announcements in the Russian 

media challenged the authenticity 

of the statement that the object 

near Varna was indeed C-34. 

In an August 28 article, Atanas 

Panayotov, Ph.D. in history, claims 

that it is impossible that the divers 

from the Black Sea Diving Odesos 

club have found C-34. To support 

his claim, the historian applies two 

facts. First of all, the object is outside 

Position 22, where according 

to the military archive, the submarine 

was sent. And second, on 15 

and 16 November 1941, the bodies 

of chief lieutenant Violet Dushin 

and boatswain Frol Terehov from 

the submarine’s crew were found 

equipped with ЭПРОН diving gear 

on the Tsarski beach near the town 

of Sozopol, some 90 kilometers south 

of Varna. 

On the other hand, in a subsequent 

article from September 1, 

Panayotov said that after examining 

the photo- and video-material, 

provided by the diving team after 

their second dive on the spot, he 

is convinced that the object found 

is C-34. Panayotov explained that 

the initial information that the submarine 

was on the territory of the 

Varna Bay was corrected with the 

addition that it was under the parallel 

of Cape Emine. That puts it in 

Position 22, where it was ordered to 

be. What is more, the discovery of 

the chief lieutenant and the boatswain’s 

bodies that further south 

could be explained with the 

strong currents that are present 

in that part of the coast. 

C-34 was the last of five 

submarines from the Soviet 

Black Sea fleet 

that were lost in 

Bulgarian waters during the Second 

World War, with a location which 

remained unknown. The cause 

of the submarine’s destruction is 

still unspecified. C-34 was located 

within the framework of a large 

Bulgarian mine barrier laid in the 

summer of 1941, said Panayotov. 

According to him, it is possible that 

the propeller tangled in a minerope. 

That would explain why Dushin 

and Terehov went out. After they 

failed with the task of untwining the 

rope, the commander of the vessel 

gave an order to move in a last 

attempt to free C-34, said the historian. 

As a result, the mine was pulled 

nearer the hull and exploded causing 

a secondary inner explosion, 

which caused the hull to split. 

Some sources mention airbombs 

scattered on the bottom around 

the submarine. This fact leads to 

the conclusion that C-34 was also 

attacked from air. 

Specialists hope that further investigation 

will shed more light on the 

fate of the Soviet submarine. The 

Bulgarian Navy announced that, 

if the theories of divers and historians 

prove to be right, the area 

where C-34 lies will be declared 

a military cemetery. ■ 


wreck 

rap 

Rare German wartime bomber 

found in the UK 

A wreck of the German bomber Dornier 17 was discovered about two 

years ago, on a sandbank off Deal, Kent, in southeastern Great Britain. 

The plane, which landed on the sandbank in 1940 before it sank, is still 

in good condition, hence, there are plans to recover it. 

Wessex Archeaolgy 

Wikimedia Commons 

Wessex Archeology has 

been working with the Royal 

Air Force (RAF) Museum 

and English Heritage on the 

twin-engined Dornier 17, a 

German bomber that was 

shot down in the Battle of 

Britain in 1940. The plane 

was found at a depth of 15 

meters (50 feet). 

“The flying pencil” 

More than 1,500 examples 

of the Dornier 17 medium 

bomber were built. The twin 

engine, twin fin configuration 

together with the narrow 

fuselage and shoulder-mounted 

engines 

gave the aircraft a distinctive 

silhouette and 

earned it the nickname, 

The Flying Pencil. 

Remarkable 

condition 

According to the RAF 

Museum the plane was 

found in “remarkable” 

condition considering 

the years it has spent 

underwater, and is largely 

intact with its main undercarriage 

tires inflated and 

its propellers still showing 

the damage they 

suffered during its final 

landing. Plans to recover 

and preserve the plane 

and eventually put it up 

for exhibit are underway. 

The work to conserve 

and prepare the Dornier for 

display will be undertaken 

at the RAF Museum’s awardwinning 

conservation center 

at Cosford. 

The discovery of the 

Dornier is of national and 

international importance. 

The aircraft is a unique and 

unprecedented survivor 

from The Battle of Britain. 

It is particularly significant 

because, as a bomber, it 

formed the heart of the 

Luftwaffe assault and the 

subsequent Blitz, said Air 

Vice-Marshal Peter Dye, 

Director General of the RAF 

Museum. 

Controlled landing 

With a crew of four and 

loaded with 900 kg / 2000 

lb of bombs, the aircraft, a 

twin-engined Dornier 17 was 

part of a large enemy formation 

intercepted 

by RAF fighter 

aircraft at midday 

on 26 August 1940 

as they attempted 

to attack 

airfields in Essex. 

The Dornier found 

on the coast of 

Kent was flown 

by Feldwebel (Flt 

Sgt) Willi Effmert 

who attempted a 

wheels-up landing 

on the Goodwin 

Sands (a 16 km / 

10 mile long sandbank). He 

touched down safely and 

the aircraft sank inverted. 

Effmert and his observer 

were captured, but the 

other crewmen died, and 

their bodies were washed 

ashore later. 

Only existing plane 

The Dornier was used 

throughout the war and saw 

action in significant numbers 

in every major campaign 

theater as a front line aircraft 

until the end of 1941 

when its effectiveness and 

usage was curtailed, as its 

bomb load and range were 

limited. Production of the 

Dornier ended in the summer 

of 1940. The Goodwin 

Sands wreck is the only 

known surviving example. ■ 

Click on the image to go to the video on 

our website 


Wreck of HMS Investigator 

found in the high Arctic 

Canadian archaeologists have found the HMS Investigator—a British ship 

abandoned in the Arctic while on a 19th century rescue mission. 

HMS Investigator was a merchant 

ship purchased in 1848 to 

search for Sir John Franklin’s lost 

expedition. She made two voyages 

to the Arctic and had to be 

abandoned in 1853 after becoming 

trapped in the ice. Now her 

wreckage was found on Banks 

Island, in the Beaufort Sea. 

Canada’s government says 

the discovery bolsters its claim to 

sovereignty over the Northwest 

Passage, which is feared threatened 

by increased shipping. 

The Investigator was abandoned 

while searching for the Franklin 

expedition, itself lost with all its 

crew during a mission to discover 

the passage. 

“It’s an incredible site,” 

Canadian Minister of the 

Environment Jim Prentice told the 

BBC by telephone from Mercy 

Bay. “You’re looking at what people 

have not seen in 156 years, 

which is a remarkably intact British 

sailing vessel.” 

The Investigator, captained 

by Robert McClure, left Britain 

in 1848, ultimately making two 

attempts to find the Franklin expedition. 

The vessel was purchased by 

the Admiralty in February 1848 

and was fitted for Arctic exploration 

at the Blackwall yard of 

Greens. The ship accompanied 

HMS Enterprise on James Clark 

Ross’s expedition to find the missing 

Sir John Franklin. Also aboard 

HMS Investigator on this expedition 

was the naturalist Edward 

HMS Enterprise (left) and HMS Investigator (right) 

Adams. 

Investigator was commanded 

for the return voyage by Robert 

McClure, but became trapped in 

the ice, and was abandoned on 

3 June 1853 in Mercy Bay on the 

western side of 

the Canadian 

Arctic, where 

she had been 

held for nearly 

three years. The 

following year, 

she was inspected 

by crews of 

the Resolute, still 

frozen in, and 

reported to be 

in fair condition 

despite having 

taken on some 

water during 

the summer 

thaw. 

Running low 

on supplies and 

food, Capt 

Robert McClure 

and his men 

were eventually 

rescued 

by another party from the Royal 

Navy. Capt McClure is credited 

as the first European to discover 

the western entrance to the 

Northwest Passage. 

‘Largely intact’ 

Archaeologists discovered the 

ship under about 25ft of pristine, 

icy arctic water this week using 

sonar and metal detectors. 

“You could make out all the 

planking on the deck, the details 

on the hull, all of the detail of the 

timber,” Prentice told the BBC. 

“It’s sitting perfectly upright on the 

floor of the ocean.” 

The Canadian researchers also 

found three graves of British sailors 

who died of scurvy on the 1853 

expedition. 

Parks Canada, a government 

agency, will inventory and study 

the ship and other artefacts but 

will not remove them. It has been 

in touch with the British government 

regarding the sailors’ 

remains. ■ 

Wikipedia / Creative Common 


wreck 

rap 

For the 11th consecutive 

year, the S.C. Army National 

Guard has partnered with the 

S.C. Department of Natural 

Resources (DNR) to donate 

surplus materials to the Marine 

Artificial Reef program, a collaborative 

project known as 

Reef-Ex. (File photo of an artificial 

reef deployment from 2005) 

South Carolina extends it artificial reefs 

The S.C. Department of 

Natural Resources and the 

S.C. Army National Guard 

teamed up once again 

and placed 20 stripped 

down armored personnel 

carriers (APC’s) into the 

waters at the Beaufort 45 

artificial reef. 

The artificial reef in 45 feet of water 

was established about 15 years ago 

with concrete reef balls, retired Army 

tanks and even debris from the old 

Broad River Bridge. The APC’s were 

distributed in a separate location, 

but are in the same permitted area 

for the Beaufort 45 Reef. 

“I have fished at the Beaufort 45 

and I have dived on it, and I can tell 

you first hand that this is a healthy 

reef. Besides seeing lots of fish 

around the artificial reef, I have seen 

sponges, soft corals and other fully 

developed invertebrates inhabiting 

the ecosystem,” said Mel Bell, a fisheries 

biologist with the Department 

of Natural Resources, 

Often divers and fishermen have 

to share these reefs, and the APC 

section will provide them a new 

option.” 

Of course it will take several years 

for invertebrates to colonize the 

APC’s. Over 33 permitted sites are 

active in S.C. waters, and the joint 

program has been placing structure 

in these locations for the past 15 

years. Bell said, “This is a win-win situation 

for DNR, the S.C. Army National 

Guard, fishermen and our natural 

resources. In terms of budgeting, 

DNR is only responsible to oversee 

the placement of the structure, 

while the NG cleans and prepares 

their retired vehicles and takes care 

of the logistics of barges, cranes and 

such. DNR is extremely grateful for 

the work that they do.” 

The state has one of the most prolific 

reef building programs with the 

National Guard along the Atlantic 

Coast. ■ 


travel news 

Edited by 

Scott Bennett 

Solmar V liveaboard becomes green(er) 

In 2011, Solmar V will partner with 

Carbonfund.org to establish carbon offsets 

for the boat’s diesel emissions. 

A part of revenues from every trip in 

2011 will be earmarked for this program 

to help fight global warming—Solmar 

V’s contribution in making the transition 

to a clean energy future possible. 

“When thinking about our business’ 

environmental impact, we follow 

simple principles: avoid-reduceoffset. 

Partnering with Carbonfund. 

org provides a great way to offset 

our impact. We want to encourage 

everyone to be good stewards of the 

oceans. If other operators are interested 

in learning how to do this, my 

staff would be happy to walk them 

through the process.” said Jose Luis 

Sanchez, the operator. 

In recognition of this move and to 

encourage divers who support this 

kind of action, Solmar V is offering the 

“Green Boat” special for all January 

2011 trips to Socorro Islands. The 

Socorro Islands offer some truly pristine 

diving with exceptionally large 

animals: 18-plus foot mantas are 

common as well as numerous shark 

species, dolphins and even whales. ■ 

Eric Cheng 

Wikipedia 

Scuba divers visiting the 

southern Thai provinces of 

Narathiwat and Pattani now 

have some unusual entries 

for their log books as 25 

Chinese-made battle tanks 

(MBTs) have been dropped 

into the Gulf of Thailand. 

The 36.7 ton (39.7 US ton) T69-2 

tanks entered service with 

the Thai army in 1987 

and were decommissioned 

in 2004 

after the Chinese 

army stopped manufacturing 

the tanks and parts 

became scarce. 

After slowly rusting away 

in a holding yard at a 

Thai army base in Nakhon 

Ratchasima, the tanks have 

become part of an artificial 

coral project initiated 

by Thailand’s Queen Sirikit 

aimed at improving the marine ecosystem 

and increasing fish 

stocks in the sea 

off the southern 

Chinese tanks 

to form new 

Thailand reefs 

provinces of Narathiwat and Pattani. 

The vehicles were lowered into the 

sea off the Narathiwat coast by 

crane on August 10. 

The fertile waters 

of the Gulf of 

Thailand are crucial 

to the nation’s fishermen, but overfishing 

has left the ecosystem 

depleted in recent years. It is 

hoped the combat vehicles will 

soon attract coral and fish to the 

areas where they are laid to rest. 

Thailand still has 70 of the Chinese 

armored fighting vehicles still in service. 

■ 


travel 

Nautilus Explorer offers trip to remote Clipperton Atoll 

The Nautilus Explorer is offering the 

very rare opportunity to combine 

the adventure of a voyage to 

a remote coral atoll with diving 

the Pacific 

mantas and 

dolphins of 

Socorro Island. 

Discovered 

by Ferdinand 

Magellan 

in 1521, 

Clipperton 

Island is a 

beautiful and 

very remote 

tropical coral 

atoll that has 

been visited by very, 

very few divers. 

The Nautilus 

Explorer offers the 

only diving expeditions 

to have ever 

visited this place 

other than Jacques Cousteau, 

Scripps, the Smithsonian Institute, 

National Geographic and a 

French scientific party. The twomile 

long atoll itself is 

jam-packed with life 

including five million 

land crabs and 500,000 

boobies. It is surrounded 

by a shallow barrier that 

descends down to a 

white sand bottom at 

175 feet. The amount 

Earth Sciences and Image Analysis 

Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center 

of fish life is prolific, ranging from 

the endemic Clipperton angelfish 

to big schools of jacks and 

other panamic fish, nudibranchs 

and multitudes of free-swimming 

green moray eels. Sharks species 

include hammerhead, silky and 

tiger sharks as well as mantas and 

whale sharks. 

Trips depart from Cabo San 

Lucas, which is easily accessible 

from anywhere in North America 

or connecting from Europe. It is a 

one-day ocean crossing 

out to Socorro and 

then an additional 

two days of voyaging 

to Clipperton. There is 

an overnight stay on 

the boat, with guests 

disembarking the 

next morning at 8:30 

a.m. Trip length is 15 

nights/16 days. ■ 

Nautilusexplorer.com 

Galapagos Islands removed from the UNESCO Word Heritage danger list 

A U.N. panel has voted to 

withdraw the Galapagos 

Islands from the World 

Heritage in Danger list. 

At the annual meeting of the 

UNESCO committee for World 

Heritage Sites, which was held 

this year in Brasilia, the capital of 

Brazil, it was decided that Ecuador 

has improved the situation in the 

Galapagos Islands to such an 

extent that they need no longer 

be included on the List of World 

Heritage in Danger. 

The archipelago of volcanic 

islands off the Pacific coast of 

Ecuador had been on the list of 

endangered world heritage sites 

since 2007. A growing local population, 

fishing, and tourism had put 

pressure on natural resources there. 

But the committee voted 15 to 4 

in favor of Brazil’s recommendation 

to withdraw the islands from the list, 

saying Ecuador had made progress 

in recent years. 

“It’s important to recognize the 

effort made by the Ecuadorean 

government to preserve this heritage,” 

said Luiz Fernando de 

Almeida, head of the Brazilian delegation. 

■ 


travel 

For most travellers, the prospect 

of getting forty winks on 

a plane can be a nightmare. 

Sleeping bolt upright in a 

sardine can-sized compartment 

isn’t particularly easy, 

and those long trans-oceanic 

flights are a virtual free 

ticket to stress-management 

therapy. Fortunately, catching 

a snooze at 35,000 feet is 

indeed possible. 

For starters, skip the coffee. Dehydrating 

drinks such as coffee, tea, 

colas and alcohol coupled with 

tinder-dry cabin air can make sleep 

even more difficult. Instead, drink 

plenty of water, starting the day 

before you fly. 

During takeoff, your body is subjected 

to increased G-forces, resulting 

in feelings of drowsiness due 

to the decreased oxygen in the 

cabin. If you’re the sort of 

person who can fall asleep 

quickly, take advantage of this short 

time and try to get your body to 

How to sleep on airplanes 

retire before you reach altitude. 

Music is a great way to relax. Before 

departure, create a playlist on your 

iPod with at least 20 songs that you 

find relaxing. Listening to music during 

sleep has been shown to help 

maintain normal blood pressure and 

good circulation throughout a long 

flight. Consider purchasing a set of 

sound isolating canal earphones 

(Etymotic Research ER-4P Earphones, 

US$165, Amazon.com). 

As the body expands at 

high altitude where cabin 

temperatures can be wildly 

inconsistent, layered, comfortable, 

loose-fitting clothing 

is best for sleeping. Take 

along a lightly stuffed full 

body pillow, preferably one 

made of memory foam 

because it can be packed 

into a small bag. Once 

you’re in your seat, pull 

it out, fold it double and 

place it on your tray table 

or somewhere you can reach it easily. 

Try to get a window seat near the 

front, where it’s quieter and 

not quite as bright. Choose 

a window seat for the wall, 

preferably in an exit row, so 

your neighbor won’t disturb 

you if he or she gets up. An 

eye mask to block all light is 

also helpful. 

Pressurized cabins can also 

create havoc on one’s gastro-intestinal 

system. Preflight, avoid gas-producing 

foods such as apples, apricots, 

beans, broccoli, cabbage 

and cauliflower. Pack 

high-fiber snacks in your 

carry-on. Dried fruit, nuts 

and whole-grain granola 

bars are good choices. 

Containing melatonin and 

serotonin, bananas are a 

virtual sleeping pill in a peel. 

A handful of almonds can 

also be snooze-inducing as 

they contain tryptophan 

and a nice dose of musclerelaxing 

magnesium. A predeparture 

turkey dinner will 

also help! ■ 

Airline meals website 

AirlineMeals.net is a website 

where users publish 

actual pictures of actual 

inflight meals. Since its 

inception in 2001, it has 

grown to more than 

20,000 airline meal photos 

from approximately 600 airlines, 

searchable by airline, 

flight class, date and route, 

news and forums. ■ 

www.airlinemeals.net 

List of international visa restrictions 

The Henley Visa Restrictions Index is a global ranking 

of countries listed 

according to the 

extent of travel 

freedom their 

citizens enjoy. 

Henley & Partners 

has analyzed the 

visa regulations of 

all the countries 

and territories in 

the world. ■ 

New clearance programs for international 

travellers going to or through the US 

Global Entry is a U.S. Customs 

and Border Protection 

(CBP) program that 

allows expedited clearance 

for pre-approved, 

low-risk travelers upon arrival 

in the United States. 

Though intended for frequent 

international travelers, 

there is no minimum 

number of trips necessary 

to qualify for the program. 

Participants may enter 

the United States by using 

automated kiosks located 

at select airports. 

GOES—The Global Online 

Enrollment System— 

allows registered users to 

enter their own applications 

for U.S. Customs and 

Border Protection (CBP) 

Trusted Traveler Programs, 

and approved members 

to edit their information as 

needed. Once a completed 

application is certified 

by the applicant and the 

non-refundable payment 

is successfully processed, 

CBP will review it and determine 

whether or not to 

conditionally approve the 

application. ■ 

Non-US citizens still have to through the indignifying proces of 

having fingerprints taken upon arrival to the US as if they were 

criminals. Image from Washington Dulles International Airport 


Text and photos by Scott Bennett 

Utila Island 

Jewel of Honduras 


travel 

Utila 

“If you’ve been to South East Asia, don’t bother with the Caribbean” is a phrase I’ve encountered 

many times over the last decade. Having done virtually all of my diving in Asia-Pacific, the 

region’s legendary diversity tends to leave one a tad spoilt. When you’ve dived exclusively in the 

world’s biodiversity hotspot, it’s all-too-easy to assume that other areas will suffer by comparison. 

However, when an opportunity arose to visit the island of Utila in Honduras, I was immediately 

intrigued. 

As well as being a totally new part of 

the world (in my own hemisphere for a 

change), it was also reasonably close, 

with a mere two hours time difference. 

I decided to cast all preconceptions 

aside and enjoy the diving for what 

it was. I ended up being in for a 

pleasant surprise! 

Getting there proved somewhat 

easier than anticipated. I discovered 

a non-stop service to Roatan from my 

home in Toronto on Sunwing, a charter 

airline that just started flights this past 

winter. Better still was the fact I could 

avoid the long stopovers required by 

connecting flights travelling through 

the United States. 

Four and a half hours after departing 

cold and drizzly Toronto, I landed 

at Roatan’s compact international 

airport. After breezing through 

customs, I gathered my gear and 

I headed outside the terminal. A 

20-minute taxi ride delivered me to the 

West End, one of the main tourist areas 

on the island. From here, I caught 

Captain Vern’s catamaran for the 

four-hour trip to Utila. I was somewhat 

surprised by the nationalities of the 

passengers—virtually all of them were 

fellow Canadians. Then Captain Vern 

uttered something rather ominous, “It’s 

going to be rough out there today, so 

Detail of fan coral on the reef at Utila (left); School of Bermuda chub (above); Juvenile spotted drumfish hovers over coral (previous page) 


travel 

Utila 

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Swimming pool at the Mango Inn; Utila ferry; Street scene 

in Utila; Pelican at the pier; ATV’s and tourists populate downtown Utila 

the north Honduras coast, the Bay 

Islands consist of eight islands and 

more than 60 cays. In contrast to 

the more rolling terrain of Roatan, 

Utila is quite flat, with the notable 

exception being the rounded 

summit of Pumpkin Hill. 

eclectic assortment of electric golf 

carts, ATV’s and most surprisingly, 

Thai-style tuk-tuks. It became 

immediately apparent that diving 

is prominently woven into the island 

cultural fabric, with more “diver 

I hope everybody has taken their 

sea-sick pills.” Scanning the waters 

ahead, I could see a profusion of 

whitecaps. Yikes! 

Within 15 minutes of departure, 

the vessel started heaving, and 

so did the passengers. (A word of 

warning: a lack of sleep, copious 

amounts of beer and rough seas do 

NOT mix!) I speedily shifted to the 

non-vomiting side of the boat and 

tried to enjoy the rest of the trip. 

Fortunately, my stomach contents 

remained intact. When all was said 

and done, the trip took an hour 

longer than expected, and we 

finally arrived in Utila around 5:00PM. 

Situated approximately 65km off 

The island 

Traditionally, Utila was largely a 

fishing community with the initial 

settlements to be found on the Utila 

Cayes, 11 palm-fringed islands off 

the southwest coast. Only 13km long 

and 5km wide with much of the 

coastline dominated by mangroves, 

the island is virtually uninhabited 

except for the small fishing village 

of East Harbour (Utila Town). Due 

to 300 years of British influence, 

the main language of the island’s 

6000 inhabitants is English, whereas 

mainland Honduras speaks Spanish. 

In contrast to Roatan’s more 

mainstream tourist scene, Utila is 

decidedly more charming, boasting 

a laid-back Caribbean vibe. 

Gingerbread houses awash in a 

range of pastel hues lined the main 

road, while traffic consisted of an 

down” flags draped from buildings and 

flagpoles than actual Honduran flags! 

After checking in at the Utila Dive 

Centre (UDC), I was driven to my home 

for the week, the Mango Inn. Nestled 

amidst luxuriant tropical gardens buzzing 

with hummingbirds, the resort was 

situated in a quiet residential area of 

town, but only a 5-minute stroll from the 

all the amenities and restaurants on the 

main street. 

Later in the evening, I met up with 

Andy Phillips, UDC’s course director. Over 

a delicious pizza and a few Salva Vida 

beers at the Mango Inn, Andy gave me 


travel 

Utila 

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Vase sponge; Mango Inn 

bungalow; Cozy room at the Mango Inn 

a run-down on the island’s diving. 

Utila’s waters are home to over 100 charted dive 

sites with a variety of environments. Suspended on 

the rim of the continental shelf, Utila’s north side is 

flanked by submarine walls that plummet to over 

1,000m. The drop offs are also home to the island’s 

most famous resident, the whale shark. 

The peak season for these gentle giants is 

between March-April and August-September. 

As my arrival had coincided with the former, 

my fingers were crossed! 

I also asked Andy about the political 

events of 2009. While widely reported by the 

international media as a coup, the local 

version was somewhat different, with the 

removal of former president Zelaya 

being entirely within the rights of the 

constitution. As is typical in politics, 

some agreed and some didn’t, and 

demonstrations did take place. As 

a result, the U.S. State Department 

slapped a travel advisory on the country 

and tourism virtually dried up overnight. 

Utila and Roatan were hit especially hard, 

as tourism is the foremost component of 

the local economy. 

Despite a few incidents of unrest 

on the mainland, the Bay Islands 

remained trouble-free during the entire 

Hummingbird build their 

snug nests out of local 

materials 


travel 

Utila 

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Pederson’s cleaner shrimp (left); Utila Beach; Brown garden eel; Four-eye butterflyfish; 

Longspine squirrelfish 

episode. After elections were held 

in November, a new president was 

instated and by December, the travel 

advisory was revoked. Happily for the 

locals, tourism has since bounded 

back. 

The diving 

The next morning, I arrived at the 

dive shop in plenty of time for the 

8:00AM departure. It was a full boat, 

with 14 divers including guides Tyson 

(a fellow Torontonian) and Josiah. 

After a recent liveaboard trip in the 

Philippines where all you had to do 

was stick out your foot and someone 

would put a fin on it, I quickly realized 

that the UDC was a 

do-it-yourself type 

of operation, with 

everyone responsible 

for setting up their own 

gear. It had been so 

long since I’ve done so 

that it was downright 

embarrassing! 

Spotted Bay 

Our destination was 

Spotted Bay, situated 

off the island’s 

northwest coast. Just 

getting there proved 

to be an adventure, 

as the previous day’ 

rollicking seas had not 

yet subsided and the half -hour trip 

was decidedly rough. 

After tying up at the mooring 

line, it was a real production to get 

everyone geared up and into the 

water. Tyson was assigned to be my 

dive buddy, and we opted to wait 

until everyone else was in first. After 

being helped to the rear of the wildly 

heaving boat, I did a giant stride and 

entered the water. 

Despite the extreme surface chop, 

the visibility was surprisingly good. 

Descending to the sandy channel 

below, I got my first look at the reef 

and was immediately struck by how 

different it looked. While not boasting 

the sheer number of corals I’d seen in 

Asia, the growth was extraordinarily 

lush. A delirious array soft corals and 

sponges blanketed the reef, while fan 

corals were absolutely everywhere, 

their fronds undulating rhythmically in 

the strong surge. 

Virtually everything in sight was 

totally new, especially the fish. 

Although I recognized angelfish, butterflyfish 

and squirrelfish, the species 

were unfamiliar. Squirrelfish looked 

virtually identical to their Pacific cousins, 

but boasted an impressive dorsal 

fin when the fish became agitated. 

Parrotfish were especially abundant 

and there appeared to be many different 

varieties (an incorrect assumption, 

but more on that later). I knew 

I would be spending some 

serious time with the fish ID 

book back at the dive centre. 

After an enjoyable 50 

minutes, we surfaced to 

discover a steady rain had 

commenced. Getting on board 

proved to be a real challenge as the 

wooden ladder bobbed madly in the 

turbulent waters. Due to the surface 

conditions and strong surge, over half 

the group had opted to sit the next 

dive out. 

As I sat cold and shivering in the 

rain, the surface interval couldn’t end 

fast enough! Moving back to 

the more protected waters 

of the island’s south side, our 

next stop was Little Bight. 

Little Bight 

Here, a coral-shrouded 

wall descended 18m to 

a large expanse of white 

sand, which was home 

to large congregations of 

garden eels. Sitting in front of what 

appeared to be a small anemone 

was an exquisite shrimp. Sporting 

a pair of long white antennae, its 

transparent body was accented with 

an assembly of vibrant purple spots. I 

later discovered it to be a Pederson’s 

cleaner shrimp, a commonly 

observed Caribbean species. 


travel 

Utila 

LEFT TO RIGHT: Fan 

corals at Ted’s Point; 

Sunset in Utila; Young 

boy shows no fear 

handling a tarantuala 

local to the area; ATV 

serves as the family 

car in these parts 

A fan coral boasted a trio of small 

but conspicuous molluscs called 

flamingo tongues, their creamy shells 

garbed in a psychedelic wardrobe 

of orange spots encircled with black. 

Although the corals have developed 

toxins to deter predators, these molluscs 

have developed a unique strategy to 

consume their favourite food. Over time, 

they have evolved a group of genes 

and proteins called a “defensome” that 

detoxifies coral compounds. 

While scouring the white sandy bottom 

for additional macro subjects, I was 

immediately assailed with a frenetic 

bout of tank banging. Whirling in all 

directions, I failed to see the cause of 

the commotion. That is, until I glanced 

above my right shoulder—hovering in 

the water column less than a metre 

away was a great barracuda! I quickly 

shifted my position and fired off a series 

of exposures. Best of all, I was able to 

capture a few images with a vibrant blue 

background. 

Ted’s Point 

Still game for more, I headed out on in 

the afternoon with dive guide, Jeremy, to 

explore Ted’s Point. The fish life was rife, 

attracted by a pair strong converging 

currents that sweep past. 

At the eastern end, the wall drops 

sharply to below 40m, while to the west, 

a gentle slope lies at 18m. The sandy 

areas were dotted with coral bommies 

decorated with sea fans, soft corals 

and sponges. Feather duster worms 

were congregated in large clusters, 

unlike the solitary individuals I’d routinely 

encountered in Asia. 

On the sandy bottom at 20m, a small 

wreck lay tilted on its side, soft corals 

protruding from the underside of its bow 

like feathery goatee. At our safety stop, 

we came across a school of large silvery 

fish, which Jeremy couldn’t identify. They 

weren’t even in the reef guide; in fact no 

one seemed to know what they were. 

After doing some research back home, 

I discovered 

them to be 

Bermuda 

chub. 

Topside 

Just like its 

undersea 

environs, 

Utila’s topside 

residents are 

a diverse 

lot. An 

eclectic mix 

of Spanish, 

African 

and English 

heritage, 

combined 

with an 

assortment 

of expats 

from around 

the world creates a 

rich cultural mosaic 

that is downright 

intoxicating. 

Interestingly, a 

number of people 

with English names 

are actually 

Spanish, a result 

of the island’s 300 

years of British 

control. 

One night, I 

needed to get 

some money exchanged, so I was 

steered me towards Archie Henderson’s 

place on the main street near the 

crossroads. Surprisingly, Archie was no 

Brit, but thoroughly Spanish! 

There was definitely no shortage of 

local characters. One afternoon, I saw 


travel 

Utila 

one fellow speeding by the dive 

shop with a large scarlet macaw 

sitting on his shoulder. As a result of 

this extraordinary cultural mélange, 

Utila’s residents boast a wealth of 

stories. 

One evening, I ventured out 

to a Mexican restaurant called 

El Picante, which was situated 

adjacent to the crossroads on 

the main drag. The owner, Jean 

hailed from the Congo of all 

places. “How on earth did you 

end up in Honduras” I queried. 

“A woman,” he responded with 

a broad grin. His Honduran wife, 

Theresa, was also the cook, and 

she served up some of the best 

enchiladas that I’ve ever eaten. 

The drinks menu also offered a 

rather intriguing concoction called 

a “Chimpanzee”. When Jean 

told me the contents included 

dark rum, coconut milk, bananas, 

cinnamon and crushed ice, I was 

sold on the spot. It did boast a 

kick, so I opted to stop at one. A 

few more and I’d probably be 

swinging from the treetops like its 

namesake! 

More diving 

The remainder of the week 

followed a similar routine, with 

morning dives on the north shore 

followed by afternoons on the 

south. 

CJ’s Drop-Off 

In contrast to the south side’s 

gentler slopes, CJ’s Drop-Off 

boasted dizzying walls plummeting 

to 1,000m. An assembly of 

triggerfish called black durgeons 

were on hand to greet us, as we 

descended 5m to the reef top. 

Hovering over the rim as it plunged 

into the abyssal depths below was 

truly exhilarating. 

While descending the wall, 

frequent computer checks were 

absolutely essential, as the crystal 

clear visibility would make it all 

too easy to exceed recreational 

diving limits at the drop of a hat. 

Back on the boat, Ryan, my guide, 

reckoned it was the best visibility 

he’d seen on the island in 

weeks. 

Big Rock 

After the deeper dives of the 

morning, the day’s final dive 

at Big Rock was kept decidedly 

shallower. Within moments, 

Ryan gestured to nearby coral, 

CLOCKWISE 

FROM FAR LEFT: 

Barred hamlet; 

Diver at CJ’s 

Drop-Off; Feather 

duster worms; 

Barrel sponge 

at Pumpkin Hill 

Banks; Hogfish 

(inset) 


travel 

Utila 

nose puffers and one seriously large 

dog snapper vying for my camera’s 

attention. 

where I barely discerned a diminutive 

head poking out of a hole. 

Barely the size of a pencil eraser, 

its owner was a secretary blenny. 

Photographing the tiny creature 

proved especially challenging, as 

it was difficult enough just SEEING 

it through my camera’s viewfinder! 

While a compliant subject, the difficulty 

of focusing on such a small 

fish coupled with the incessant 

surge present made for moments 

of extreme frustration. Photo subjects 

abounded for the remainder 

of the dive, with Pederson’s shrimp, 

arrow crabs neon gobies, sharp- 

UDC Jetty 

For macro subjects, I discovered 

one needn’t look any further than 

the Utila Dive Center jetty, whose 

wooden pilings are a favourite 

haunt of seahorses. One day, with 

a few hours to spare between 

dives, I grabbed my camera, 

donned some fins and snorkel and 

set out in search of them. 

Although I did find a couple of 

banded coral shrimp and a school 

of grunts, my seahorse search 

came up empty-handed—that 

is, until I asked one of the dive 

instructors above, who informed 

me there was one attached to a 

rope right at the end of the jetty. 

Having a second look, I sheepishly 

realized it had been right in front 

of my nose during my initial forage. 

The experience ended up being 

a real first: underwater macro 

photography while snorkelling. 

Black Hills 

A firm favourite amongst many 

visitors, Black Hills is considered to 

be one of the Bay Islands’ premier 

dive sites. An isolated seamount, 

its nutrient-rich waters attract fish 

like a magnet. It’s summit, starting 

at a depth of 10m, was shrouded 

with a patchwork of fan corals, 

sponges and hard corals. Swirling 

amongst them were successions of 

blue tang. French grunts, yellowtail 

snappers and the occasional grey 

angelfish. During the dive brief, 

we were told a large green moray 

could often be seen patrolling 

the reef top, and sure enough he 

(she) appeared right on cue. 

Above the reef, a shimmering 

school of horse-eye jacks glinted in 

the blue, joined by several Atlantic 

spadefish and a school of southern 

sennet, a species of barracuda. 

The duration of the dive was spent 

encircling the seamount’s 

perimeter, and every pass 

revealed something new. 

While photographing a 

fan coral, a large hogfish 

appeared from beneath 

one of the fronds. A large 

wrasse named after the 

shape of the male’s head, 

they are also highly valued 

for their meat (which does 

not taste like pork). 

Duppy Waters 

For our next dive, we 

headed over to the north 

CLOCKWISE 

FROM FAR 

LEFT: Dive boat 

hovers over 

reef at Duppy 

Waters; Secretary 

blenny; 

Seahorse; 

Decorated 

nudibranch 

(sea slug); 

Dog snapper 


travel 

Utila 

where these corals can be observed at 

such shallow depths. Descending the 

wall, I came across one of Utila’s smaller 

but most spectacular residents. Flitting 

above a rich tableau of table corals 

was a juvenile spotted drum. Attired in 

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Reef scene 

from Duppy Waters; Lizardfish; Nassau 

Grouper; Branching vase sponge at Black 

Coral Wall; French grunt; Tobaccofish 

side to Duppy Waters. ‘Duppy’ 

trans-lates to ‘ghost’ in the local 

dialect, and the site receives its 

name from the light shimmering 

over the reef. Legend has it 

that if anyone sees a flash 

of light, his or her days are 

numbered. While no ghosts 

made an appearance, the reef 

was wondrous to behold, with 

exuberant coral growth at each 

and every turn. 

After swimming through a 

meandering canyon hewn 

into the reef top, 

we emerged at a 

precipitous wall. The 

waters beyond were 

hued in the most 

incredible shade of 

blue I’ve ever seen, 

with visibility easily 

surpassing 30m. While no 

whale sharks made an 

appearance, there were 

plenty of other fish 

on view including 

schoolmasters, 

honeycomb 

cowfish, 

blueheads, Creole 

wrasse, porkfish 

and groupers. 

During our 

surface interval, 

we had lunch at a 

charming seaside 

restaurant called 

The Purple Pelican. 

Sitting astride a 

white palm fringed 

beach offering 

expansive views to 

the nearby Cays, it even had 

a pelican (albeit not purple) 

perched out front on a wooden 

pylon 

Afterwards, we paid a visit to 

Black Coral Wall. 

Black Coral Wall 

The site was aptly named, as 

the walls were home to a profusion 

of young black coral trees. 

In fact, it is reputed to be one 

of the few places in the world 


travel 

Utila 

CLOCWISE FROM LEFT: Pillar corals at Black Coral Wall; School of sennet, a 

species of barracuda; White vase coral and pink vase coral at Black Coral 

Wall 

a striking wardrobe of black and white 

accented by an elegant sinuous dorsal 

fin, it flitted incessantly above the corals, 

seemingly oblivious to my presence. 

Especially captivating were the 

myriad of sponges on display. Boasting 

a wild array of shapes, sizes and 

colours, they soon became one of 

my favourite photo subjects. One 

species, however, was like nothing 

I’ve seen before. Standing erect like 

inverted bugles, vase sponges were 

garbed in a rich palette ranging from 

cream to vivid fuchsia. Dominating 

the reef top was an immense pillar 

coral. Resembling the ramparts of 

a submarine medieval castle, the 

towering spires attracted swarms of 

Bermuda chub, Atlantic spadefish and 

a couple of hefty drum fish. I ended up 

doing this dive several times during my 

stay. Each visit revealed new surprises, 

with the undisputed highlight being a 

pair of spotted eagle rays gracefully 

swimming side by side. 

Iquana excursion 

One afternoon, I took a break from 

diving and hopped on a tuk-tuk for 

a visit to the Iguana Research and 

Breeding Station (IRBS) on the outskirts 

of town. Under the guidance of biologist 

Helder Perez, the project is part of 

The Bay Islands Foundation, 

a private non-profit organization 

committed to the 

protection of the country’s 

endangered flora and 

fauna through a series of conservation 

projects. 

The IRBS was born in 1997 with the 

main purpose of protecting and 

preserving the spiny-tailed iguana, 

a species endemic to Utila. Known 

locally as swampers, the iguanas 

are threatened with extinction due 

to illegal hunting, uncontrolled 

development and destruction of 

their mangrove forest habitat. 

The foundation receives volunteers 

interested in doing scientific 

research of the island’s biology and 

ecology as well as in participating 

in the conservation projects for 

iguanas. Helder then took me on a 

tour of the centre, which featured 

a number of informative displays 


travel 

Utila 

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Iguana at mealtime; Stoplight parrotfish; 

Red shrimp; Banded coral shrimp; Juvenile swamper 

on the island’s ecology. Despite 

its compact size, Utila is home to 

a remarkable number of species, 

with new discoveries being made 

all the time. One room housed a 

large cabinet containing a series of 

incubators, where the iguana eggs are 

kept prior to hatching. To date, 750 

hatchlings have been released in the 

wild. 

Afterwards, we went outside to 

a series of enclosures, where 

iguanas of varying 

sizes were kept. 

The first housed 

contingent of 

juveniles, which 

would shortly be 

returned to the 

wild. It was also 

feeding time 

and the juveniles 

heartily tucked 

into the provided 

termites with wild abandon. Nearby, 

another enclosure contained a pair of 

fully-grown breeding adults as well as 

a large green iguana that was missing 

its left forelimb. 

It was also feeding time for a highland 

iguana, the third of the island’s 

iguana species. The meal consisted 

of an odd pairing of fiddler crabs and 

hibiscus flowers, which the hungry 

lizard greedily gulped 

down with gusto. 

Perched beside 

the enclosure door 

was another island 

resident, a formidable 

looking Honduran tarantula. 

The centre’s volunteers 

wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot 

pole, but a small boy gleefully plucked 

the large arachnid from its perch! 

Night dive 

After rushing back to the dive centre, 

I was fortunate to join a group of divemasters 

for a night dive. Our destination 

was Silver Gardens, a short boat 

away. I couldn’t wait to see what 

macro treasures Utila’s waters would 

reveal at night. Frank, my dive guide, 

soon proved adept at finding critters 

and my camera’s shutter clicked 

away happily for the ensuing 50 minutes. 

Shrimp were everywhere, their 

beady eyes glowing red in my strobes’ 


travel 

Parrotfish at night (left) 

Red nudibranch (bottom left) 

Spotted scorpionfish at night (below) 

a noise that I first took to be our 

boatman revving the engine in a 

series uniform of bursts. Confusingly, 

it seemed to grow louder and 

then softer again for no apparent 

reason. Then, at one point it got 

REALLY loud. In fact, the sound 

became so intense I could feel the 

vibration right down to my very 

bones! Nearby, I could see Frank 

diligently searching for something 

underneath a rocky overhang. 

Then, I remembered a conversation 

from the previous day, and a 

light went off in my head. It had to 

be a toadfish! With their broad and 

flat heads sporting barbels, spiny 

check protrusions and enormous 

mouths brimming with scores of 

sharp teeth, these sluggish bottom 

dwelling fish are more often heard 

than seen. It certainly was the 

Utila 

case that evening, as the elusive 

creature retreated into to a dark 

recess before I was able to catch 

a glimpse of it. 

Still, the dive had one more 

surprise in store. Just as we were 

approaching the ladder, a Caribbean 

reef octopus regarded us 

suspiciously from the reef top 

before vanishing under some 

corals. 

While consulting the reef guide 

back at the resort, I made a 

surprising discovery. It seems that 

two of the parrotfish species I had 

been observing all week was, in 

fact, one. The stoplight parrotfish 

undergoes a dramatic colour 

metamorphosis as it reaches 

adulthood. Juveniles are light grey 

in colour with a lattice pattern 

of chocolate brown punctuated 

spotting lights. A couple of familiar 

faces even showed up: a pair of 

banded coral shrimp. I even spotted 

a large bright-red nudibranch, a rarity 

in Caribbean waters. Although resembling 

a Spanish dancer, Frank said it 

was another species entirely. 

The sandy area between bommies 

was crawling with spotted goatfish, 

while a foraging blue conger eel was 

an unexpected surprise. In some places 

there was almost a bit TOO much 

life, as the water was literally seething 

with masses of wriggling red worms. 

For some reason, they seemed to be 

utterly entranced by the spotting lights 

of my underwater strobes, more so 

than everyone else’s torches. 

I also had a close encounter with 

one of the Caribbean’s most unusual 

residents, not visually but audibly. 

Early into the dive, I kept hearing faint 


travel 

Lionfish 

The poster 

said it all, 

“Wanted: 

Dead or 

alive.” 

Emblazoned 

underneath 

the bold 

type was 

a large image of a lionfish, Utila’s 

newest and most unwelcome arrival. 

Since its first appearance in Utila’s 

waters in the middle of 2009, the local 

community has declared all-out war 

on this destructive interloper. Just how 

they arrived is open to a good deal 

THIS PAGE: Scenes from the 

Haliburton wreck 

of debate. One version theorizes that 

several escaped from an overturned 

aquarium when Hurricane Andrew 

slammed into Florida in the 1990s. 

Others put the blame on Hurricane 

Katrina. Whatever the reason, 

lionfish are now firmly entrenched in 

Caribbean waters with the potential 

of wreaking environmental havoc 

on local ecosystems. In their natural 

home in the Pacific, lionfish breed only 

once a year, but in the Caribbean, it 

has been discovered that they breed 

fives times a year. To combat this 

potentially catastrophic problem, a 

vigorous eradication programme has 

been implemented to rid Utila’s waters 

of this uninvited menace. ■ 

Utila 

by a vivid crimson belly. 

Adult males are blue-green 

accented with pink. In 

most parrotfish, individuals 

start out as females and 

change to males. Adding to 

the confusion is that some 

stoplight parrotfish develop 

directly to males from the get 

go. These individuals often 

resemble the initial phase, 

and often display a different 

mating strategy than the 

terminal phase males of the 

same species. The verdict 

Mass confusion all around! 

The Haliburton Wreck 

One of the week‘s highlights 

was a dive on Utila’s biggest 

and most famous wreck, the 

Halliburton. Situated off the 

island’s south coast less than 

ten minutes from town, the 

vessel sits upright on 

a flat, sandy bottom 

at a depth of 30m. An 

inter-island supply vessel, 

it was deliberately 

sunk in 1998 by the 

Utila Dive Operators 

Association to create 

an artificial reef. 

Descending the 

mooring line into 

the blue, the ghostly 

outline of the ship soon 

became visible. This 

was one seriously big 

wreck! Stretching 30m 

from bow to stern, I 

could already see the 

dive time wasn’t going 

to be nearly long 

enough. Although it’s 

possible to penetrate 

the cargo hold, I decided 

to concentrate on the 

exterior. On the sand below 

was a decidedly unusual 

sight: the skeleton of a pilot 

whale. Nearby, a corroded 

bicycle tire played home to 

a lizardfish and arrow crab 

while a large spiny lobster 

peered out from an opening 

at the vessel’s base. 

Near the bow, an H-bitt 

for securing mooring lines 

was enveloped with red 

star encrusting sponges 

and capped with a pore 

rope sponge, looking like an 

oversize stick of dynamite. 

As fairy basslets and queen 

angelfish flitted past, a 

peculiar jumble of objects 

caught my attention. On the 

vessel’s uppermost section, 

a number of items had 

been adhered to the railing 

ranging from a mannequin’s 

head with mask to a PADI 

card. I later discovered that 

some divers like to leave 

personal mementos behind. 

While everyone doesn’t 

approve of this practice, it 

has nevertheless become 

something of a tradition. 

On a decidedly smaller 


travel 

THIS PAGE: Scenes from the 

Jade Seahorse garden created 

by the owner out of glass, bottles, 

tiles, ceramic plates and 

other found objects 

Utila 

with detail. Overlooking the proceedings 

was the Treetanic Bar, a ship wrecked 

in the branches of a trio of mango trees 

towering over the front yard. There was 

even a hotel called Nightland, consisting 

of several private cabins. The detail was 

astonishing, and the hour I spent wandering 

the grounds was not nearly long enough. 

Definitely worth a return visit. 

Pumpkin Hill 

On my last diving day, Andy had a very 

special dive in mind. Like an undersea 

version of Pumpkin Hill, the Pumpkin 

Hill Banks is a large and round-topped 

seamount situated off the island’s southeast 

coast. It was also deep, with the top lying 

scale, Ron’s Wreck is also a lot shallower, 

lying at a depth of 14m. Since it sank 

in 1991, the vessel has been colonized 

by a veritable tangle of sponges 

and corals and is home to Christmas 

tree worms, shrimp and lobsters. The 

abundant fish life included blue chromis, 

Spanish hogfish, four-eye butterflyfish, 

tobaccofish, barred hamlets and a 

school of blue tang. 

Venturing along the wall towards 

Ted’s Point yielded a few more surprises. 

Hovering beside a fan coral was 

a massive yet tolerant Nassau grouper. 

Unfortunately, I was equipped for macro, 

so I had to content myself with some 

facial portraits. A small canyon jutting 

off the main wall proved to be a real 

bonanza. After firing off a few images 

of an arrow crab, I practically bumped 

into a spiny lobster. A scant metre from 

that was a massive red crab followed by 

an adult spotted drum. At nearby Moon 

Hole, I spotted a gorgeous flatworm 

flecked with orange spots, something 

I hadn’t encountered during my entire 

visit. 

Jade Seahorse 

Before I knew it, the week was rapidly 

drawing to a close. However, there was 

one more land-based attraction that I 

was told I simply couldn’t miss. All week 

I’d been hearing about a place called 

the Jade Seahorse, which was barely a 

minute’s walk from my hotel. Comprised 

of a restaurant, cabins and bar, the 

somewhat unassuming exterior bore no 

portent as to the marvels that lay inside. 

As I entered through the main gate to 

the garden, I literally stopped dead in 

my tracks. Before me lay a whimsical setting 

straight out of Alice’s Wonderland. 

Over a number of years, the owner 

has lovingly crafted his verdant property 

into marine-themed fantasyland of 

glazed tile, bottles and glass. An unbridled 

assortment of platforms, gazebos, 

bridges and pathways were swathed 

with incredible mosaics jam-packed 


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Utila 

Utila Centre for Marine Ecology 

Established in 2006, The Utila 

Centre for Marine Ecology’s aim 

is to improve the welfare and 

economic growth of Utila by 

supporting the management 

and sustainable use of its 

marine biodiversity. With its 

unique location and variety of 

marine habitats, Utila is an ideal 

centre for ecological research. 

In addition, the island provides 

an interesting development 

model as the community shifts 

from strong historical links with 

fishing to its current reliance on 

reef based tourism. 

Currently, Utila‘s dive industry 

supports up to 85 percent of 

the island economy. While 

global coral reefs face 

increasing threats, major 

bleaching events in recent 

years have hit Caribbean reefs 

especially hard. The project’s 

goal is to identify and reduce 

local stressors to coral reefs, to 

make them more resilient to 

global environmental changes 

and will achieve this by 

integrating targeted research, 

with ongoing monitoring and 

community management. 

The UCME has grown 

rapidly to become a focal 

point for the investigation of 

tropical marine and island 

at a depth of 32m. Swept by 

strong currents that bring in the 

nutrients, local fishermen have 

long known the spot to be a 

prime fishing ground. 

Our group was small, with 

only myself, two ladies from 

New York, Andy and Frank. With 

two of the island’s most experienced 

diversmasters on hand, I 

knew we were in good hands. I 

asked Andy if Captain Anthony 

biodiversity and now provides 

technical capacity in marine 

research to the Honduran 

government. Research focuses 

on identifying and studying 

factors that create, maintain 

and influence the islands biodiversity, 

providing information, 

which can guide management 

decisions and underpin effective 

conservation. Combining 

cutting edge marine science 

with volunteer programmes 

and educational courses, divers 

and non-divers alike can assist 

national and international 

researchers as they study the 

island’s wealth of biodiversity. 

A variety of projects are currently 

underway, including the 

establishment of a locally managed 

conch farm, studies on 

assessing the extent and health 

of the mangrove systems, lionfish 

eradication and studies 

monitoring local fish populations. 

The local community is 

highly supportive of the centre’s 

efforts and is actively integrated 

into the various research studies, 

working side by side with 

marine biologists and conservation 

specialists to better understand 

and conserve Utila’s 

threatened marine environment. 

■ 

needed GPS to pinpoint the 

exact location. “Not necessary,” 

he responded. “He can find it 

by sight.” Using the outline of 

Pumpkin Hill and a few distant 

trees as landmarks, Anthony 

was able to find the spot with 

minimal difficulty. To help maximize 

bottom time (which admittedly 

wouldn’t be long) we went 

down on Nitrox. Surface currents 

here can sometimes be strong, 

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Diver in the sun; Fan coral at Black Hills; Diver and reef at Ted’s Point 

but we lucked out and were 

able to descend quickly. As it 

was a blue water descent, Frank 

took along a second tank as a 

safety precaution. 

Moments after descending, 

the seamount’s dim silhouette 

loomed into view. Glancing at 

the depth on my computer, I 

saw my bottom time steadily 

click down into single digit 

numbers. Due to the incessant 

battering by strong currents, the 

summit was covered with short 

knobby corals and a plethora of 

squat barrel sponges. I just got 

myself in position to take a photo 

and realized my depth was 

42.6m. My remaining bottom 

time was all of three minutes! 

Not wanting to go into deco, 

I reluctantly started to ascend 

with the others. Final dive time: 

20 minutes. Short but sweet. 

That sentiment also summed 

up my weeklong visit. Utila took 

me completely and happily 

by surprise. Did it have the 

Pacific’s biodiversity Of course 

not. Instead, I embraced the 

differences rather than bemoan 

them and experienced its 

wonderful dive sites and array 

of brand-new species. Alas, the 

whale sharks failed to make an 

appearance, but the diversity 

of undersea life, combined 

with wonderful people and an 

easygoing island ambiance 

makes Utila a must for all divers. 

I guess I’ll just have to come 

back for the whale sharks. ■ 


source: cia.gov world factbook 

fact file 

Honduras 

RIGHT: Location 

of Honduras on 

global map 

BELOW: Location 

of Utila Island on 

map of Honduras 

FAR RIGHT: Detail 

from the Jade Seahorse 

garden 

History In 1821, Honduras became 

independent of Spain. Military rule followed 

for two and a half decades 

until 1982, when a freely elected civilian 

government came to power. The 

country proved a haven during the 

1980s for anti-Sandinista contras fighting 

the Marxist Nicaraguan Government. 

Honduras was also an ally to Salvadoran 

Government forces, which were fighting 

leftist guerrillas. In 1998, the country was 

devastated by Hurricane Mitch, which 

killed around 5,600 people and caused 

about US$2 billion in damage.The economy 

has slowly rebounded since then. 

Government: Democratic constitutional 

republic. Capital: Tegucigalpa 

Geography Honduras is located 

in Central America and borders the 

Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala 

and Nicaragua. It also borders the 

Gulf of Fonseca (North Pacific Ocean), 

between El Salvador and Nicaragua. 

Coastline: 820km. Terrain is mostly mountainous 

in the interior with narrow coastal 

plains. Lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0m. 

Highest point: Cerro Las Minas 2,870m. 

Note: While the country has a short 

Pacific coast, it has a long Caribbean 

shoreline, including the mostly uninhabited 

eastern Mosquito Coast. 

Climate Lowlands are subtropical; 

Mountainous regions are temperate. 

Natural hazards include common but 

mild earthquakes as well as frequent 

damaging hurricanes and floods along 

the Caribbean coast. 

Environmental issues 

include exanding urban population; 

deforestation due to logging 

and clearing of land for agriculture; 

soil erosion and further land 

degradation accellerated by 

uncontrolled development and 

farming of marginal lands; heavy 

metal contamination of freshwater 

sources by mining activities. 

Honduras is party to the following 

agreements: Biodiversity, Climate 

Change, Climate Change- 

Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, 

Endangered Species, Hazardous 

Wastes, Law of the Sea, 

Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer 

Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical 

Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, 

Wetlands. 

Economy Honduras is the second 

poorest country in Central America. 

It suffers from extremely unequal distribution 

of income, as well as high 

unemployment and underemployment. 

Heavily reliant on a narrow range of 

exports such as apparel, bananas, and 

coffee, the nation’s economy is vulnerable 

to changes in commodity prices 

and natural disasters; but, investments in 

the maquila and non-traditional export 

sectors are contributing to a gradual 

diversification of the economy. Almost 

half of the country’s economic activity 

is directly tied to the United States. 

In 2006, the U.S. Central America Free 

Trade Agreement (CAFTA) came into 

force. It has helped increase investment, 

BELIZE 

Puerto 

Cortés 

NORTH PACIFIC 

OCEAN 

San Danlí 

Lorenzo 

Choluteca 

Caribbean 

Sea 

Puerto Castilla 

GUAT. 

La Ceiba 

San 

Tela 

Santa Rosa Pedro 

de Copán Sula 

Juticalpa 

Comayagua 

TEGUCIGALPA 

EL SALVADOR 

Golto de 

Fonseca 

ISLAS DE LA BAHÍA 

NICARAGUA 

SWAN 

ISLANDS 

however security and political issues 

may be detering potential investors. 

Marginal economic growth in 2010 will 

not improve living standards for those 

in poverty, which is almost 60 percent 

of the population. The fiscal deficit is 

growing, despite improvements in tax 

collections because of increases in current 

expenditures to cover increasing 

public wages. Natural resources: timber, 

gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, iron 

ore, antimony, coal, fish, hydropower. 

Agriculture: bananas, coffee, citrus, 

corn, African palm; beef; timber; shrimp, 

tilapia, lobster. Industry: sugar, coffee, 

textiles, clothing, wood products, cigars. 

Currency Lempiras (HNL) Exchange 

rates: 1EUR= 24.84HNL;1USD= 18.92HNL; 

1GBP= 29.42HNL; 1AUD= 17.94HNL; 

1SGD= 14.21HNL 

Population 7,989,415; Below poverty: 

59% (2008). Ethnic groups: mestizo 

(mixed Amerindian and European) 

90%, Amerindian 7%, black 2%, white 

1%. Religions: Roman Catholic 97%, 

Protestant 3%. Internet users: 658,500 

(2008). 

Language Spanish, Amerindian dialects 

Health There is a high degree of risk 

for food or waterborne diseases such 

as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and 

typhoid fever as well as vectorborne diseases 

such as dengue fever and malaria 

and water contact disease such as leptospirosis 

(2009) 

Hyperbaric Chambers 

Utila Hyperbaric Chamber 

Bay Islands College of Diving 

Utila, Bay Islands of Honduras 

www.dive-utila.com 

Websites 

Let’s Go Honduras 

www.letsgohonduras.com 


Sulawesi 

Indonesia’s 

Muck diving & diversity 

Text and photos by Eric Hanauer 


travel 

Sulawesi 

Text and photos by Eric Hanauer 

www.ehanauer.com 

Sulawesi is one of those places 

on nearly every diver’s 

bucket list. If not, it ought to 

be. A dozen years ago, people 

would have thought you 

daft to go diving there, much 

less build a dive resort in an 

area dominated by dark volcanic 

sand. Yet in Sulawesi 

there are nearly two dozen 

resorts vying for divers’ dollars, 

yen and euros. 

Sulewsi came on my radar when I 

first set eyes on Roger Steene’s book, 

Coral Seas, published in 1998. At 

the time, the last thing on my wish 

list was another coffee table book. I 

had been diving nearly 40 years and 

thought I’d seen just about everything 

I wanted to see underwater. 

But when I spotted the weird, exotic 

animals in that book, I realized what 

I’d been missing. An inordinate number 

of them were photographed in 

Sulawesi. 

My first trip to Sulawesi was in 2005 

on the liveaboard Aqua One, motoring 

through Bunaken and Lembeh 

Strait. When I returned home and 

matched all the critters still missing 

against Steene’s book, I vowed 

to return. I’ve never been a fan of 

checklist diving, but after seeing shots 

of mimic octopuses, rhinopiases, bobbit 

worms and stargazers, I realized 

that I’d missed the boat. So, when 

the opportunity finally arose, nobody 

had to twist my arm. 

This time, it would be a slow and 

leisurely two weeks, split between 

two land based resorts: Cocotinos in 

the Bunaken area, and Kasawari in 

Lembeh Strait. Bunaken Island features 

the dropoffs, walls and colorful 

invertebrate life we all associate with 

the tropical Indo-Pacific. Yet, there’s 

also excellent muck diving offshore. 

Lembeh Strait has a few coral reefs to 

Flamboyant cuttlefish (above); Bangai cardinalfish school (left); Wonderpus in water column (previous page) 


travel 

Sulawesi 

LEFT TO RIGHT: Carrier crab with fire urchin; Amicus scorpionfish; Hairy frogfish 

go along with all the bottom dwelling 

critters. The good news is that both are 

within a two-hour drive from Manado’s 

airport, Bunaken on the western side 

of the peninsula and Lembeh to the 

east. 

Muck diving 

First, let’s define Sulawesi’s brand of 

muck diving. The substrate isn’t really 

muck, but dark brown to black volcanic 

sand. That’s important for several 

reasons. First, the big grains settle 

quickly instead of remaining in suspension 

and destroying visibility. Second, 

it’s okay for a diver to lie down on the 

bottom, allowing for eye level shots. 

No delicate corals will be smooshed, 

but watch out for urchins and stargazers 

and the like. Finally, the dark colors 

won’t be blown out by the lights of 

strobes, providing an excellent background 

for underwater photographs 

and videos. 

Bunaken 

Bunaken Island is about a 45-minute 

boat ride from Cocotinos Boutique 

Beach Resort. It’s a series of classic 

wall dives with virtually every inch 

covered by sponges, tunicates and 

hard corals. Clouds of anthias flitter 

about the reef, joined by fusiliers in the 

blue. What’s missing is big critters; a 

shark sighting was a big deal. But to 

me the big deals were mating nudibranchs, 

ribbon eels, 

a juvenile lionfish 

and an extremely 

cooperative jawfish. 

I kept peering 

down the wall, but 

the computer and 

Nitrox nixed those 

thoughts. 

The first thing 

my guide, Tono, 

promised was to 

find me a pygmy 

seahorse. The first 

thing I replied 

was that everybody 

had pygmy 

seahorse photos, 

I’m not into super 

macro, so let’s find 

other things. Tono 

seemed relieved. 

He seemed to know where 

every frogfish of every color 

was hanging out, as well as 

every boxfish and pipefish. 

The best spot was a rubble 

pile with three sea horses 

and two kinds of scorpionfish. 

Despite the walls, I 

spent most of my dives at 

Cocotinos shooting macro. 

Kasawari 

At Kasawari Lembeh Resort, 

I renewed acquaintances 

with two Indonesian divers 

who had pioneered 

the art of muck diving: 

Nuswanto Lobbu and Ali 

Umasangadji. Nus is now 

the manager of Kasawari, 

complaining that his office 

duties preclude very much 

diving. Although he is a 

relative newcomer to underwater 

photography, Nus’ uncanny ability 

to find critters has resulted in images 

that make the pros jealous. Ali, despite 

many years of guiding, still radiates joy 

when finding rare and exotic marine 


travel 

Sulawesi 

life. In Sulawesi’s muck, a shooter is 

almost totally dependent upon the 

guides. Occasionally, I was able to 

locate my own subjects, but for at 

least 80 percent of the images in this 

spread, credit must be shared with 

Tono, Ali, Robin, Hanni and Indra. 

Critters 

On the first night dive in Lembeh, I 

made a find of my own: a pair of mating 

crabs. The male was on top of the 

female, and slowly dragged her along 

the bottom. After a few 

strobe flashes, he seemed 

to resent this invasion of privacy 

and buried the female 

in the sand, leaving only her 

eyes protruding. 

Mandarinfish 

Mating mandarin fishes at 

dusk presented 

a different challenge. 

For those 

who haven’t 

tried shooting 

them, the exercise 

consists of 

50 minutes of boredom 

followed by five minutes 

of chaotic action. That’s 

when the male and 

female suddenly spurt out 

of the coral maze into the 

water column, release 

their eggs and sperm, 

and dash back under 

cover. Common practice 

is to use a red modeling 

light to avoid inhibiting 

their nuptials. My problem was that 

three layers of red plastic made the 

light too dim to focus by. 

On the following night, I used only 

one layer, which was like no red light 

at all. But I aimed it downward, until 

the mandarins began their upward 

sprint into ecstasy. Then, I was able 

to get the beam on them, autofocus 

and shoot. That technique resulted in 

about five times the keepers of the 

previous night. Mandarins are the most 

beautiful fishes on the reef, and they 

know it. 

Bobbit worm 

Another night critter on my wish list 

was a bobbit worm. A meter or more 

CLOCKWSIE FROM TOP LEFT: Mandarinfish pair; Box crab; Diver hovers over lush reef; 

Bobbit worm; Mating crabs 


travel 

Sulawesi 

Rhinopias is an exotic variety of 

scorpionfish, another ambush 

predator that crawls along the 

bottom on prehensile “feet.” It 

took nearly all of the two weeks 

to find one. Then Indra and I 

were grubbing around the bottom 

when we ran into some other 

divers and guides. He inquired via 

signs and a slate, and they took 

us to the rhinopias. At first glance, 

it was disappointing: a tiny brown 

fish about the size of a child’s fist. 

But strobe shots showed it to be 

a brilliant orange. My final shot 

was the keeper: mouth open, 

lit from underneath for a touch 

of menace. There are six species 

of rhinopias; this one was an 

Eschmeyer’s. 

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Stargazer; Rhinopius; Mimic octopus 

long, it stays mostly buried in the sand, 

but will dart up when a piece of bait is 

dangled out there. It won’t stay for long, 

just grabbing for the bait and retreating 

again. Depending on your frame of reference, 

it resembles a sandworm from the 

Dune books by Frank Herbert, or a big 

penis. 

The animal was named after Lorena 

Bobbit, who chopped off her husband’s 

organ after he had been unfaithful. 

Carrying the parallel a step further, a 

popular folk myth states that the female 

worm bites off the male’s penis after 

copulation and feeds it to her young. Not 

true. Bobbit worms are broadcast spawners, 

releasing sperm and eggs into the 

water column. Mama will never see her 

ugly babies. 

Stargazers 

One basic rule I followed in Lembeh was 

to never miss a night dive. I had botched 

my stargazer shots on the previous trip, 

so I asked Ali to find me one. It was like 

ordering food off a menu. He found not 

one, but several. 

A little fish swam close by, and the 

stargazer erupted out of the sand and 

inhaled it. I was too slow on the trigger to 

catch the action. 

Stargazers 

are so ugly 

they are cute. 

Their perpetual 

toothy frown is 

reminiscent of 

a stonefish, as 

is their Jabba 

the Hutt shape 

and venomous 

spines. Like frogfish, 

they have a 

fleshy lure that 

attracts victims 

for ambush predation. 

Rhinopias 

A rhinopias 

was at the top 

of my wish list. 

Mimic octopus 

The mimic octopus is the star of 

the show in Lembeh. This unusual 

cephalapod gets its name from the 

incredible shape, texture and color 

shifting it goes through to escape from 

predatory photographers. These shapes 

may include a ray, a sea star, a lionfish, 

or even a crab. Whether 

these shapes are random 

or intentional is open to 

conjecture, but either way 

it’s quite a performance. 

The wonderpus is a close 

relative, with shape-shifting 

talents of its own, but not to the extent 

of the mimic. How can a diver tell them 

apart The mimic octopus has a white 

stripe running down the underside of 

each tentacle. Both species were discovered 

only within the past 15 years. 


travel 

Lasting Impressions 

After a while I started looking for more on my 

own. Fire urchins often hide tiny zebra crabs 

in their spines. They in turn are often carried 

along the bottom on the backs of carrier 

crabs. Delicate porcelain crabs may be 

found in the same anemones as clownfishes. 

Slipper lobsters roam the sand at night on 

long, spindly legs. The giant among Lembeh 

nudibranchs is the solar power nudie, nearly a 

foot long, with fleshy lobes all along its body. 

One of my favorite sites from the earlier trip 

was the police pier. Among the rubble, there 

were hundreds of the beautiful Bangaii cardinalfishes, 

hanging out among sea urchins, 

anemones and old tires. Unfortunately, the 

pier is now actively used by big boats, so diving 

underneath and around it is forbidden. 

However, we did make a dive about 50 yards 

away, where we encountered a white mantis 

shrimp. I’d seen all sorts of colorful mantis 

shrimps but this was the first white one. I suspect 

it’s a regular stop on the police pier tour. 

By the end of two weeks, the only critter 

missing on my to-do list was the blue ringed 

octopus. But that’s a good thing, because it’s 

a strong incentive to return—as if I needed an 

excuse. ■ 

FACT FILE 

Sulawesi 

Getting there From Singapore, Silk 

Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, 

has regular flights to Manado. Most 

resorts will pick you up at the airport 

by van. Rides to the resort range 

from one to two hours. 

Passport A current passport with 

6 months remaining is required. A 

30 day visa is $US25, payable at the 

immigration counter in US dollars 

or rupiah. Airport departure tax is 

100,000 rupiah, payable in rupiah. 

(Don’t panic, see next paragraph.) 

Currency One euro is equivalent 

to 11,811 Indonesian Rupiah Credit 

cards are accepted in almost all 

tourist facilities. ATMs are located in 

most towns. 

Language Bahasa Indonesian. 

English and Japanese is widely spoken 

in tourist facilities. 

Electricity 230 volts, European 

and/or British plugs 

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Squat lobster on nudibranch; Juvenile bangail cardinalfish in pink anemone; 

Close-up portrait of a pipefish 

Climate Tropical humid. December 

through April is the rainy season, but 

diving is good all year round. Water 

temperatures range from 26 to 28 

degrees Celsius (78 to 82 degrees 

Fahrenheit). A 3mm wet suit will be 

sufficient for most divers. 

Tourist facilities Those catering to 

American/European clientele offer 

a wide range of amenities including 

Nitrox, wifi, satellite television, spa 

and massages, and land excursions. 

Websites 

Cocotinos Cocotinos-manado.com 

Kasawari Kasawari-lembeh.com 

Thanks to Cocotinos and Kasawari 

resorts for their help in preparing this 

article. 


North 

Indonesia 

Sulawesi 

Text by Don Silcock 

Photos by Eric Hanauer and Don Silcock 

The island of Sulawesi lies like a 

large broken star in the middle 

of the vast archipelago that 

forms the country of Indonesia. 

It’s remote location, roughly 

a third of the way between 

the huge islands of Borneo to 

the west, and New Guinea to 

the east, places Sulawesi right 

in amongst what is generally 

considered to be the richest 

marine environment in the 

world — the Coral Triangle. 


eric hanauer

travel 

Sulawesi 

eric hanauer 

eric hanauer 

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Zebra crab on fire urchin; Nudibranch; Pipefish. PREVIOUS PAGE: Shrimp on sea cucumber 

Defined by the Nature Conservancy 

as the global epicenter of marine 

biodiversity, the Coral Triangle is 

characterized by more than 600 

species of coral and 3,000 species of 

reef fish. 

To put those numbers into 

perspective, the Red Sea has around 

200 coral species and 1,000 fish 

species, and the Caribbean, 50 and 

900 respectively. 

Geographically, the Coral 

Triangle covers six countries —from 

the Philippines in the north to the 

Malaysian state of Sabah on the tip of 

the island of Borneo in the west and 

the Solomon Islands to the east. In 

between lies Indonesia, East Timor and 

Papua New Guinea. 

The scientific reasons for this 

tremendous biodiversity are complex 

and relate to a combination of 

factors including such technical issues 

as water salinity, temperature and 

speciation rates. However, there is 

little doubt that the phenomenal flow 

of water that marine scientists refer to 

as the Indonesian Throughflow plays 

a significant role (see sidebar on next 

page). 

Diving North Sulawesi 

Divers are basically spoilt for choice 

when it comes to exploring this part 

of Indonesia. The area has its own 

international airport at Manado, 

serviced by direct flights from 

Singapore with Silk Air four times a 

week. Plus it’s easily accessed from 

both Jakarta and Bali, although 

that usually involves a short stop at 

Makassar (Udjung Pandang) in South 

Sulawesi. 

At the tip of North Sulawesi are the 

Bangka and Gangga Islands, which 

receive the full force of the Indonesian 

Throughflow as it first touches land, and 

offer some exceptional diving if you 

are an experienced diver and know 

how to handle strong currents. 

On the east coast, there is the 

critter mecca in the sheltered Lembeh 


eric hanauer

travel 

Sulawesi 

eric hanauer 

Straits and some of the most 

unusual things you will ever see 

underwater, while on the west 

coast there is the magnificent 

Bunaken Marine Park with it’s 

steep walls and blue water 

diving. 

The whole area of North 

Sulawesi is very well served by 

an assortment of dive resorts 

plus a number of resident 

and visiting liveaboards and is 

eric hanauer 

without a doubt a world class 

destination that justifies an 

extended stay to make the 

most of the tremendous diving 

available. 

Bunaken 

National Marine Park 

One of the first parks to be 

established in Indonesia, the 

Bunaken Marine Park was 

created in 1991. It covers an 

area of almost 90 hectares 

and 97 percent of it is water 

with the five islands in the 

park—Bunaken, Manado 

Tua, Mantehage, Siladen and 

Nain—occupying the other 

three percent. 

Each of the five islands has 

its own flavor but the dormant 

volcano, Manado Tua, with its 

classic cone shape and sheer 

size, simply dominates the 

park. While Siladen Island, with 

its white sandy beaches and 

densely wooded interior, has a 

real desert island look about it. 

Bunaken Island, in the shadow 

of Manado Tua, is the most 

populated island and supports 

a population of around 4,000 

people as well as the majority 

of the dive resorts that operate 

in the Marine Park. 

The area is renowned for its 

blue waters, wall diving and 

pelagic encounters. It’s easy 

to see why, when you look at 

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Wolf lionfish; Lembeh Strait with the volcanic 

mountain looming on the horizon; Angelfish and trupetfish; Nudibranch 


don silcock 

eric hanauer

travel 

Sulawesi 

eric hanauer 

eric hanauer 

White mantis shrimp; Transparent shrimp; Nudibranch; Leaf fish 

eric hanauer 

the sea charts and have a basic 

understanding of the Indonesian 

Throughflow. The deep basins to 

the northand west of Bunaken and 

to the south in Manado Bay are 

the source of the blue water. As 

the nutrient rich Throughflow surges 

past the five islands of Bunaken 

Park, it creates numerous counter 

currents around them. 

The underwater topography 

and lunar cycles are just some of 

the variables at work, 

but the end results 

are biodiversity hot 

spots that produce 

some wonderful dive 

sites. The sites around 

the crescent shaped 

Bunaken Island 

best illustrate these 

mechanisms, because 

the island—lying as 

it does in the middle 

of the park— faces 

into the predominant 

northeast current. 

The current is at 

it’s strongest on the eastern and 

western sides of the islands and 

the sites there, such as Timur One 

and Two are rich in hard and soft 

corals, sponges and schooling fish, 

nourished by the nutrients from the 

deep water basins to the north. 

But the underwater topography 

between the islands, and the 

1,500m deep Manado Bay to the 

south, creates the swirling counter 

currents that feed the multiple 

dive sites on the southern side of 

Bunaken—such as Lekuan One, 

Two and Three on the southwest 

side and the really excellent Fukui 

on the southwest side. 

Diving these sites is a heady 

experience—particularly on the 

vertical walls, which drop down 

into the abyss and create a feeling 

akin to vertigo on a clear day if 

you look down! 

A mid-morning dive at Timur 

One and Two on the east coast 

of Bunaken is simply superb, and 


eric hanauer

travel 

eric hanauer 

Sulawesi 

eric hanauer 

eric hanauer 

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Colorful invertebrates; Wonderpus; 

Hermit crab with anemones; Nudibranch; Slipper lobster 

probably my 

favorite dive of 

all, because the 

sun is perfectly 

positioned to 

illuminate the 

sloping wall and 

profusion of corals that 

provide the perfect backdrop to 

the clear blue waters. 

Fukui was also a memorable dive 

with giant clams, schooling batfish and 

sweetlips. My encounter with the huge, 

ancient and completely indifferent green 

turtle at Lekuan One was something I will 

always remember. 

So many sites, so much to see, so little 

time…. 

Bunaken Critters 

The number of critters I encountered while 

diving Bunaken pleasantly surprised me 

and 

brought 

a smile to 

Andrew Lok’s face. 

Andrew, the general manager of 

Cocotinos where I based myself for this 

trip, had assured me that there were some 

excellent critter diving sites less than ten 

minutes from the resort, but having dived 

the Lembeh Strait the year before, I have 

to say that I was not 

really convinced. 

So, when I came back 

on just the second day 

of the trip with excellent 

photographs of two 

pygmy seahorses and 

a new Bahasa phrase 

learned from Fendi, my 

excellent Indonesian 

guide—dua pygmy, 

empat mata (two 

pygmies, four eyes)—I 

knew it was my turn 

to buy the beers for 

Andrew! 

Anybody who has 

ever tried to get a really good 

image of just one of these tiny but 

incredibly photogenic creatures 

actually looking at the camera will 

know why I was so excited about 

two of them both posing for me and 

for long enough for me to actually 

press the shutter. 

There are some very basic rules for 

photographing critters. First, you obviously 

have to be at a site where they can be 

found. Then, you need the right camera 

and lens combination to fill the frame, and 

finally, you need to be able to spot them, 

and this is where the dive guides come 

in. There really is no substitute for a good 

guide, and I was constantly amazed at the 

critters Fendi could find and direct me to. 


eric hanauer 

eric hanauer

travel 

Sulawesi 

CLOCKWISE 

FROM FAR LEFT: 

Local transport 

through the 

jungle; A busy 

day at the pier; 

Crinoids on sea 

fan 

don silcock 

don silcock 

Cocotinos Resort is located 

right in the fishing village of 

Kima Bajo in Wori Bay, north of 

Manado, and there are some 

great critter sites to the north 

of the bay at Aba Point and 

Odyssea Point and to the south 

at Gabet and Posi Posi. 

Aba Point is a classic critter 

site, located in a small bay 

that provides protection from 

rough weather with a small 

river providing a constant 

source of organic nutrients 

and nearby deepwater for the 

essential cold water upwellings 

critters seem to thrive on. It 

was there that I was able to 

capture the two pygmies 

on a small gorgonian fan at 

30m, but spent so long with 

them my beeping computer 

limited further exploration to an 

extended 5m deco stop. 

The pygmy seahorse is in 

my opinion the single most 

dangerous creature in the sea 

for underwater photographers! 

Posi Posi to the south of Wori 

Bay is the place to be as the 

sun goes down because of its 

resident colony of mandarin 

fish and their nightly mating 

ritual—but make sure you get 

there early and get a good 

spot, as it can get crowded 

with boats from other resorts. 

Being so close to the world’s 

critter mecca of the Lembeh 

Strait is obviously challenging, 

and you won’t find the really 

exotic critters, such as hairy 

frogfish and Ambon scorpion 

fish in Bunaken, but there is 

no doubt that there is a lot 

of small stuff to see on the 

western side of North Sulawesi. 

Lembeh 

There really is no other place 

quite like the Lembeh Strait— 

it’s simply unique! 

Located as it is between 

the eastern side of the tip 

of North Sulawesi and the 

island of Lembeh, the strait 

benefits from the rich flow 

of deep sea nutrients of the 

Indonesian Throughflow, and 

its cold waters plus sheltered 

bays on both the mainland 

and Lembeh side provide the 

protected areas for the critters 

to thrive. 

And thrive they certainly 

do—attracting divers and 

underwater photographers 

from all over the world to 

witness the incredible selection 

of the weird, wonderful and 

downright strange creatures 

the sea can offer. 

For underwater 

photographers, it’s a “must 

do”, and many divers will 

enjoy it, too. But it has to be 

said that it’s not everybody’s 

cup of tea. The water can be 

quite cool, and the 

visibility, challenging 

at times. Plus, if 

you are not taking 

photographs, critters 

that can disguise 

themselves to look 

just like a rock or 

a crinoid look like rocks and 

crinoids and may not hold your 

attention like a stunning coral 

reef can. 

I chose to stay at Cocotinos 

because its location at Kima 

Bajo meant that I could get to 

all the main dive sites around 

Bunaken. Plus, it’s a relatively 

easy 90-minute drive over to 

Lembeh, which means that 

you can have the best of both 

worlds—diving the walls and 

reefs of Bunaken plus some of 

the famous sites in Lembeh like 

Hairball and Nudi Falls. 

Having spent a week at 

Lembeh last year dedicated 

to critter diving, this balance 

of a couple of days there in 

between the rest at Bunaken 

proved to be a perfect way 

to spend ten days in North 

Sulawesi. 

For more information, visit: 

www.indopacificimages.com ■ 

eric hanauer 


fact file 

Indonesia 

RIGHT: Location of Sulawesi 

Island on global map. 

BELOW: Location of 

Sulawesi Island on 

map of Indonesia 

sources: cia.gov world factbook, 

starfish.ch 

History In the early 17th century, 

the Dutch began to colonize 

Indonesia. From 1942 to 1945, 

Japan occupied the islands. 

After Japan’s surrender in WWII, 

Indonesia declared its independence, 

however, it took four years 

of negotiations, recurring hostilities 

and mediation by the United 

Nations for the Netherlands to 

finally agree to transfer sovereignty 

in 1949. 1999 marked the year 

of Indonesia’s first free parliamentary 

election after decades of 

repressive rule. The world’s thirdlargest 

democracy, Indonesia is 

the world’s largest archipelagic 

state. It is also home to the world’s 

largest Muslim population. Current 

challanges include: improveing 

education, alleviating poverty, 

curbing terrorism, initiating economic 

and financial reforms, 

controling corruption, holding the 

military and police accountable 

for human rights violations in the 

past, addressing global warming, 

and controlling bird flu. An 

historic peace agreement with 

armed separatists in Aceh was 

reached in 2005, which led to 

democratic elections in Aceh 

in 2006. However, the government 

still faces sporadic armed 

resistance by the separatist Free 

Papua Movement. Government: 

republic. Capital: Jakarta 

Geography Indonesia is an 

archipelago of islands located 

in Southeastern Asia, between 

Andaman 

Sea 

the Indian Ocean and 

the Pacific Ocean. 

Coastline: 54,716 km. 

The terrain is mostly 

coastal lowlands with 

interior mountains 

on the larger islands. 

Lowest point: Indian 

Ocean 0m. Highest 

point: Puncak Jaya 

5,030m. Note: Indonisea 

is made up of 17,508 

islands of which 6,000 

are inhabited. It straddles 

the equator in a 

strategic location adjacent 

to major sea lanes 

from Indian Ocean to 

Pacific Ocean. Piracy and armed 

robbery has been known to occur 

against ships in the territorial and 

offshore waters in the Strait of 

Malacca and South China Sea. 

Climate Indonesia has a 

tropical, hot, humid climate with 

more moderate temperatures in 

the highlands. Natural hazards 

include severe droughts, occasional 

floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, 

volcanic activity and forest 

fires. 

Environment Deforestation; 

water pollution from industrial 

wastes, sewage; air pollution in 

urban areas; smoke and haze 

from forest fires. Indonesia is 

party to agreements including: 

Biodiversity, Climate Change, 

Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, 

Medan 

THAILAND 

Pekanbaru 

INDIAN 

OCEAN 

Gulf of 

Thailand 

MALAYSIA 

VIETNAM 

South 

China Sea 

SINGAPORE 

BRUNEI 

MALAYSIA 

BORNEO 

Pontianak 

Padang 

Kalimantan 

Sulawesi 

Sumatra 

Banjarmasin 

Palembang 

Ciwandan 

Java Sea 

JAKARTA 

Semarang 

Makassar 

Bandung 

Java Surabaya 

Banda Sea 

Desertification, Endangered 

Species, Hazardous Wastes, 

Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer 

Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical 

Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, 

Wetlands. The country has signed, 

but not ratified Marine Life 

Conservation. 

Denpasar 

PHILIPPINES 

Celebes 

Sea 

Kupang 

Philippine 

Sea 

Ambon 

TIMOR-LESTE 

Timor 

Sea 

Economy As a vast polyglot 

nation, Indonesia has been able 

to weather the global financial 

crisis relatively smoothly due to 

its heavy reliance on domestic 

consumption as the impetus 

for economic growth. To counter 

the effects of the crisis, the 

government used fiscal stimulus 

measures and monetary policy 

and offered cash transfers to 

poor families. Consumption was 

partially buoyed by campaign 

spending in advance of legislative 

and presidential elections in 

2010. Economic advances and 

significant reforms in the financial 

sector, including tax and customs 

reforms, the use of Treasury bills, 

and capital market development 

and supervision, were made 

under President Yudhoyono. 

Increasingly robust GDP growth 

and sound fiscal stewardship 

has steadily reduced Indonesia’s 

debt-to-GDP ratio in recent years. 

Pursistent challenges include poverty 

and unemployment, inadequate 

infrastructure, corruption, 

a complex regulatory environment, 

and unequal resource distribution 

among regions. Natural 

resources: petroleum, tin, natural 

gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, 

fertile soils, coal, gold, silver. 

Agriculture: rice, cassava, peanuts, 

rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm 

NORTH 

PACIFIC 

OCEAN 

Equator 

Aratura 

Sea 

Biak 

New Guinea 

PAPUA NEW 

GUINEA 

AUSTRALIA 

oil, copra; poultry, beef, pork, 

eggs. Industries: petroleum and 

natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear, 

mining, cement, chemical 

fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, 

tourism. 

Currency Indonesian Rupiah 

(IDR). Exchange rates: 1EUR = 

11,715.31 IDR; 1USD = 8,980.00 IDR; 

1GBP = 14,032.15 IDR 

Population 240,271,522 (July 

2010 est.) Ethnic groups: Javanese 

40.6%, Sundanese 15%, Madurese 

3.3%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Betawi 

2.4%, Bugis 2.4%, Banten 2%, 

Banjar 1.7%, other groups 29.9%. 

Religions: Muslim 86.1%, Protestant 

5.7%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 

1.8%, other religions 3.4% (2000 

census). Living with AIDS/HIV: 

270,000 (2007 est.) Below poverty 

line: 

17.8% 

(2006). 

Internet 

users: 30 million 

(2008) 

Language Bahasa Indonesia 

(which is the official, modified 

form of Malay), English, Dutch, 

local dialects (Javanese is the the 

most widely spoken) 

Health There is a high degree 

of risk for food or waterborne diseases 

such as bacterial diarrhea, 

hepatitis A and E, and typhoid 

fever, as well as vectorborne 

diseases such as chikungunya, 

dengue fever and malaria. 

Note: There have been cases in 

Indonesia of the highly pathogenic 

H5N1 avian influenza. However, 

it poses a negligible risk to visitors. 

Hyperbaric Chambers 

Manado (Sulawesi): Malalayang 

Hospital, tel: 0812-4302970; and 

Professor Dr Kan-dou Hospital, tel: 

(+62) 8134-0000840 

Makassar (Sulawesi): Rumah Sakit 

Umum Wahidin Sudirohusodo 

Tel: (+62) 0411-584677 

Websites 

Tourism Indonesia 

www.indonesia.travel 

North Sulawesi Promotion Board 

www.north-sulawesi.org ■ 


The FActs and viewpoints in this section ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE VIEWS OF 

x-ray mag. EQUIPMENT PRESENTED IN THIS SECTION HAve NOT BEEN tested BY 

x-ray MAG STAFF, NOR ARE THE ITEMS warranteEd. information PROVIDED IS 

CONDENSED from manufacturers’ DESCRIPTIONS. Texts are usually edited 

for length, clarity and style. Links are active at the time of publication 

point & click 

on bold links 

Equipment 

Let it roll 

Atomic Aquatics Cobalt 

The engineers of Atomic Aquatics have created an OLED (organic light 

emitting diode) faced dive computer that sets the stage for the next 

gen- 

eration of dive computers. Aside from its beautiful 

display (think iPhone), the computer packs 

advanced features that will appeal to 

recreational divers and technical divers 

alike. Running algorithms from the RGBM 

(reduced gradient bubble model), the computer 

can handle three gas mixes (up to 99 

percent O 2 

), and user configurable conservationism. 

Topped out with digital compass, air 

integration, rechargeable battery (AC or USB 

from a laptop), and 40 to 60 hours of dive time. 

The test unit we were able to dive with this summer 

performed flawlessly, and the user interface and 

menu design were quickly and easily mastered without 

a manual. www.atomicaquatics.com 

ABC Safari bag 

The iQ-ABC-Bag 

comes with 

two shoulder 

straps, so that it 

can be carried 

as a 

backpack. 

With 

netting, 

so that the 

bag is well 

ventilated. 

Made from100% 

Polyester, robust 

600 Denier fabric 

IQ-Company 

Watershot 

Video Lights 

The latest in the STRYKER 

series of underwater lights is 

the addition of a video light to 

its round up. The lights can be set 

up in tandem for use with video set ups or configured 

as a single dive light. The light head can 

be set to high lumen output or adjusted to three 

different levels, or strobe mode. www.sitech.se 

Icaro 

Tech 

A BCD 

designed 

with needs 

of a tech 

diver, but 

equally useful 

for the recreational 

diver or underwater 

photographer. The 

Icaro Tech offers complete independence 

from the harness to the air-cell. 

Extremely light weight 3,050 grams 

(less than seven pounds), easily adjustable, 

and fully accessorized with six 

55mm D rings. The outer material is polyurethane 

coated 1000 denier Cordura 

and finished with three convenient dump 

valves. www.seacsub.com 

Titan 

Into its third generation and 

boasting ten years of experience 

is the newly designed Titan regulator. 

This balanced diaphragm 

T-shaped design is made from 

stamped brass with multi-plated 

chrome finish. With the option to 

use either the right or left hand, the 

second stage has a quick disconnect 

and does not need tools. With its 

single hp port and four mp ports and 

a second model for cold water (the 

Titan Supreme) this regulator should 

fit the need for most divers. Complete 

specifications at: www.aqualung.com 


equipment 

The Equipment News is brought to you 

in part by Gear Check, compiled by 

Robert Sterner of Sterner Editorial Services. 

Suggest products to review and read 

earlier Gear Check items by product categories 

at www.sternereditorial.com 

Nautilus Lifeline 

This new radio and GPS for divers is designed to work with 

any marine radio and comes with Digital Selective Calling 

(DSC) capability to transmit GPS position or distress calls. 

DSC radio is the latest in marine radio technology. Digital 

Selective Calling is part of a global upgrade in maritime 

distress communications. Intuitive and easy to use. Use the 

button on the right to talk to every boat around you on 

CH16—the worldwide marine hailing frequency. Use the 

button on the left to chat with your dive boat or other 

divers. Advanced software prevents you from accidentally 

jamming the frequency and even automatically 

adjusts your squelch. Press the DSC button, and your 

GPS position will be transmitted to every boat and 

marine VHF DSC radio within 6km. Their radios will 

switch to CH16, alarms will sound, red lights will flash 

and your position will be shown on each radio 

display. nautiluslifeline.com 

Scuba Pro Black Tech 

Regulators 

Paired with either exclusive high 

flow piston MK25 or high-performing 

diaphragm MK17 first stage, the 

A700 systems are phenomenal in 

beauty and in breathing performance. 

The Black Tech incorporates a PVD (Physical Vapor 

Deposition) finishing process, which increases ruggedness, 

scratch resistance and surface hardness. 

PVD finishes are already found on military 

equipment, watches and tools. It is applied 

using titanium nitride and boasts a hardness 

of 2500 HV (chrome is 900 HV; stainless steel 

is 190 HV). The second stage has precision 

handcrafted all metal construction for a lifetime 

of diving. The regulator has unparalleled 

breathing performance regardless of depth, temperature 

or breathing position—now with a newly aligned co-axial 

VIVA (Venturi Initiated Vacuum Assist) system for more precise breath- 

ing 

assistance, control and comfort. Finished with two HP ports, five LP ports and swiveling turret. 

Available is chrome or Black Tech, and DIN or yoke. www.scubapro.com 

Kata handy 

dive gear tote 

Kata bags weren’t 

designed for divers 

but they should 

have been. The 

sturdy 

but 

very lightweight 

bags 

are 

found in photo 

stores with 

some designed to 

snuggle specific brands and 

models of cameras and others as general gadget bags. 

Bags are made with water-resistant fabric and zippers. Some even 

have cushions that can be inflated after gear is inserted, providing 

the ultimate in protection from jarring and making 

the bag buoyant should it fall overboard. Bags typically 

have dividers that are handy for organizing gear and 

a pillow to protect lenses from jostling. Toblerones are 

built into the bottom and edges to absorb shocks and 

to keep the bag above standing water. Click handles 

provide an ergonomic grip at different angles and dualpurpose 

buckles optimize carrying in various angles. 

The multi-sided shoulder strap fits left or right shoulders, 

slung either straight down or across the chest, and 

it’s slotted to let air circulate under the strap. The 

optional trolley eases lugging the heavier bags and 

is sturdy enough to pile on another bag or two of 

luggage, too. www.kata-bags.com 


October 16/17 

“A phenomenal 

weekend and the 

best conference 

of the year” 

EUROTEK.2010 - the bi-annual Advanced and Technical 

‘Must Diving have’ tickets Event are now - will on be sale held for the on bi-annual Saturday Advanced 16th and and Sunday 17th 

Technical Diving event – EUROTEK.2010. Held on Saturday 16th and Sunday 

17th October October in Halls in Halls 9, 10 and 9, 10 11 at and the International 11 of the Convention International Centre, Convention 

Broad Centre, Street, Birmingham; Broad Street, EUROTEK Birmingham, has proved to England, be popular with B1. a 

plethora of divers. 

Declared “a phenomenal Weekend” and “the best 

“In 2008 the vast majority of the delegates declared it ‘a phenomenal weekend 

and the Conference best conference of of the year’ year” ”, stated by many Rosemary .08 E Lunn, Delegates, EUROTEK EUROTEK is a 

Co-Organiser. “must “Just attend” about event every major for name any that’s diver anything wanting to do to with get more out of 

technical their diving diving. attended You and don’t we had need experienced to be divers a techie, travel from just Finland, curious and 

Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Ireland, USA and 

South hungry Africa to take for part. more I’m information. delighted to say that Tickets this international will be available trend has when 

continued doors because open we’ve at already 08.00 had Saturday ticket requests morning from Spain, priced Belgium, £43 and £75 

Ireland, respectively Iceland, Greece, for Russia, a Day/ South Weekend Africa, Canada Pass. and Equador, and in 

one month we sold half the ticket allocation. You don’t need to be a techie 

diver to attend this, just a diver wanting to get more out of their diving. Spaces 

are limited, During so to the guarantee weekend your place in addition at EUROTEK.2010, to the don’t 40 different leave it to the exciting 

last minute, talks buy and your useful ticket now workshops you could over well end two up days, very disappointed. there’s a display of 

historic rebreathers and diving equipment being brought over 

We’ve got a mouth-watering list of 29 speakers thanks to Co-Organiser 

Leigh Bishop’s especially hard work. from I’m the thrilled Netherlands, to say we’ve successfully and a storming secured such Expo with 

luminaries over as 40 cave UK explorer and Jill overseas Heinerth, underwater specialist cinematographer companies exhibiting. Carl This 

Douglas, makes Algorithm EUROTEK.2010 Author Bruce Wienke the perfect (sponsored opportunity by Suunto), and for tech you to spend 

legend Tom Mount (sponsored by IANTD). In addition the ever charming and 

popular time Dr Simon and Mitchell talk directly will be talking to the again. manufacturers At 2008 his presentations and training were agencies 

out, and not get everyone your got questions to hear him answered. 

speak, hence we’ve invited him 

packed 

back to EUROTEK.2010. Simon’s got the knack of being able 

to explain in quite simple terms complex physiological information to divers, 

Just about every name that’s anything to do with technical 

whilst at the same time keeping the medics engaged. No wonder it was 

standing diving room only will in be his attending talks! to listen to a mouth-watering list of 

29 speakers. “We’re delighted that we have secured such 

The Diving luminaries Industry has been the record very generous breaking with their Cave support Explorer and we’d like Rick Stanton, 

to thank Ambient Pressure Diving, DiveLife, Fourth Element, Silent Planet and 

Suunto underwater for sponsoring EUROTEK Cinematographer this year. It’s enabled Carl Douglas, us to put on Algorithm a storming Author 

expo, Bruce because Wienke we have more (sponsored than 35 UK by and Suunto) overseas specialist and tech companies legend Tom 

exhibiting Mount and a (sponsored display of historic by rebreathers IANTD)”, coming stated over Rosemary from Holland. E Lunn, 

There’s also a chance for you to win a VRX Computer, a X-Scooter Deep Ideas 

Cuda DPV EUROTEK worth £4,000, Co-organiser. a Rich Walker “In Fundamentals addition Course, and back a bespoke by popular 

drysuit demand from Otter, a is twinset the ever Halcyon charming Regulator Set Professor from Silent Dr Planet Simon (2 regs), Mitchell. 

and various other diving goodies. The proceeds raised will go to the Disabled 

Diving Charity, Deptherapy. 

At 2008 it was standing room only in his presentations and 

Finally not on the everyone Saturday evening got to we hear will be him hosting speak, a special hence Gala Award his return Dinner. to 

Over 370 EUROTEK.2010. delegates including Simon Analox, has Custom the Divers, knack GUE, of MR being Diving, able South to explain 

West Diving, quite Suunto, complex TDI and physiological VR Technology information have already booked to divers tables in quite simple 

terms and whilst great fun. keeping It’s the perfect the medics opportunity engaged. to network and Divers tend to 

because they know they’re in for a fantastic night. The Gala Dinner is truly 

good humoured 

socialise, leave catching his up talks with with some a old key friends piece and meeting of information new people, that so come has suddenly 

the party! become crystal clear whilst pondering “now why didn’t 

and join 

I see that before” No wonder the room is always packed 

Prebooked/paid tickets come in at £38.19 for a One Day Pass, £70.50 

for a Weekend when Simon Pass, whilst is on”. the Gala So Award come Dinner to EUROTEK.2010, is £52.88 a head. catch up with 

The deadline some for old booking friends, your meet dinner ticket new is people Friday 24th and September. learn more about 

advanced and technical diving. 

Tickets will also be available for purchase on the door priced at £43 and £75 

for a Day / Weekend pass. 

Speakers and Topics 

Antti Apunen & Janne Suhonen 

• The Molnar Janos Cave System beneath the 

City of Budapest 

• Diving Finnish Mines 

Leigh Bishop 

• Britannic 2009; When deep wreck diving goes 

fatally wrong 

Mark Caney 

• Closed Circuit Rebreathers; Tec or Rec 

Craig Challen 

• Cocklebiddy; Extreme Cave Diving in the 

Australian Desert 

Carl Douglas 

• Shipwreck Discoveries in the Baltic Sea 

• Filming Deep Wrecks in the Baltic 

Note: the awesome photography that complements 

these talks is by Jonas Dahm 

Martyn Farr 

• Classic Dark Site Diving; Cave Diving around 

Europe 

• Cave Diving in the UK; a look at traditional 

British Cave Diving 

Kevin Gurr 

• Rebreathers; Fact, Fiction or Voodoo 

Jill Heinerth 

• Extreme Cave Diving in Bahamian Blue Holes 

complimented by the Wes Skiles beautiful 

photography 

• Digital Photography Still Imaging Clinic 

• Diving the Ice Caves of the Antarctic 

Evan Kovacs 

• 3D Deep Ocean Imaging; A look at producing 

3D films underwater 

• Awesome 3D films from the Woods Hole 

Team 

John Lamb 

• Abuse of Oxygen Sensors with the expert 

from Vandagraph 

José Santaria Marques 

& Armando Riberio 

• Deep Portuguese Wreck Diving; a look 

at some stunning wrecks off the coast of 

Portugal 

Gareth Lock 

• Risk Management In Diving 

José Santaria Marques 

& Armando Riberio 

• ‘Erich Glese’; Deep Wreck Diving on a Nazi 

Destroyer off Narvik 

Barry McGill & Ian Lawler 

• Deep Wrecks of Ireland – a look at the 

Carinthia, HMS Curaco and others 

Agnes Milowka 

• Cave Diving Down Under 

• Caves of Florida; new discoveries and classic 

dives. (The stunning images are by the late 

Wes Skiles) 

Dr Simon Mitchell 

• Physiology of Divers 

• Inwater decompression; current issues that 

have been topics of several forum debates 

• CO 2 Issues with Rebreather Diving 

Tom Mount 

• The Evolution of Technical Diving; how 

technical diving came about 

• Survival Dynamics; A look into the philosophy 

of diver survival 

Martin Parker 

• Staying In The Loop; Accident Analysis 

Eduardo Pavia 

• The Viminali – Deep Italian Wreck diving on 

this awesome Ocean Liner lying off Sicily 

Mark Powell 

• Decompression Planning; Translating 

decompression theory practically with PC 

Planning Tools 

• Deep Stops and Bubble Models in Deco 

Theory 

Daniel Rice 

• Freebreathe Technology 

Phill Short 

• Cave Diving Adventures; one man’s worldwide 

cave diving exploits 

• Technical CCR Workshop focusing on 

Rebreather Safety 

Arne Sieber 

• The future technology of Sensors 

Tomaz Stachura 

• Graff Zeppelin; Deep Wreck Divers explore 

Hitler’s Aircraft Carrier 

Rick Stanton 

• Doux de Coley and other European 

Cave Projects 

Rick Stanton & Leigh Bishop 

• DPV’s for Wreck and Cave Diving 

Rich Stevenson 

• Getting started in CCR Diving 

Rich Stevenson & Leigh Bishop 

• The Development of British Wreck Diving over 

the last two decades 

Bruce Wienke 

• Decompression Algorithms; The Good, The 

Bad and The Ugly 

• Valuable Technical Diving Resources 

Please note that these talks and speakers 

are subject to change without notice. 

Exhibitor list 

Ambient Pressure 

Diving 

Amphilogic 

Bonex Scooters 

Cathx Ocean 

Custom Divers 

Deep Ideas 

Dive-In Cyprus 

Dive-Tech 

Fourth Element 

Greenforce 

Hollis 

Hugyfot 

Hydrogom 

Jetsam Technologies 

Kent Tooling Diving 

Products 

Liquivision 

Midlands & London 

Diving Chambers 

Meridian Chartware 

Miflex 

MR Diving 

Narked @ 90 

Oceanic 

OMS UK 

O’Three 

Otter 

Papua Diving 

Phil Grigg Technical 

Diving 

Red Sea Diving 

College 

rEvo Rebreathers 

Santi 

Scuba Industries 

Trade Association 

Shearwater Research 

Silent Planet 

Stansted Fluid Power 

Submerge 

Productions 

Suex Scooters 

Suunto Diving UK 

Tech Thailand 

The Rebreather Site 

TillyTec 

VR Technology 

Waterproof 

Wreck Diving 

Magazine 

XRay Magazine 

Agencies 

GUE UK 

IANTD UK 

PADI TecRec 

TDI 


The FActs and viewpoints in this section ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE VIEWS 

OF x-ray mag. ITEMS PRESENTED IN THIS SECTION HAS NOT BEEN tested BY 

x-ray MAG STAFF, NOR ARE THE ITEMS warranted, information PROVIDED IS 

CONDENSED from manufacturers DESCRIPTIONS. Texts are usually edited 

for length, clarity and style Links active at the time of publications 

point & click 

on bold links 

Edited by Kelly LaClaire 

Gunild & Peter Symes 

Dive Watches 

Time, Technology & Style 

all photos courtesy of the MANUFACTURERS 

OR VENDORS 

When trying to determine if 

a particular watch is suitable 

for diving, first of all, look for a 

water-resistance rating of at 

least 200 meters, or 20 atm. The 

apparent overkill on the depth 

rating means that the watch 

should hold up fine underwater 

for most normal diving conditions. 

But a watch claiming to 

be water-resistant to 100 meters 

(330 feet) should be sufficient 

for recreational scuba diving, 

especially since those safe diving 

limits are set at 40m (130 

feet). 

So what’s the deal 

It is a matter of conventions 

that are, if not outright misleading, 

then certainly grounds 

for a great deal of confusion. 

However, the table (below) 

should provide some guidelines 

for buyers. First of all, the waterresistance 

ratings provided 

by manufacturers result from 

testing done under controlled 

circumstances. Basically, they 

indicate resistance to water 

penetration, assuming there 

is no movement by either the 

watch or the water, at a particular 

depth. The ratings do not 

take into account what happens 

if the watch is bumped or 

jarred. 

In reality, several factors are at 

work simultaneously on a watch 

while underwater. Pressure is 

the most significant, but as a 

diver moves through the water, 

additional pressure is exerted. 

The watch cases of diving 

watches must be adequately 

water (pressure) resistant and 

be able to endure the galvanic 

corrosiveness of seawater. So, 

the cases are generally made 

out of materials like stainless 

steel, titanium, ceramics and 

synthetic resins or plastics. 

Gold may be a problem just 

because it’s softer. 

Seals must be used at each 

point where the case can be 

opened, and at other joints. 

This is primarily the case-back 

and crown (covering the stem). 

They may also be placed 

between the crystal and case 

unless a sealant is used. These 

seals, or gaskets are usually 

o-rings made of rubber or some 

other synthetic. Every watch 

made for diving should also 

feature screw-down casebacks 

and crowns. A caseback 

that screws down tight 

against a seal works much better 

than any type of back that 

is pressed in. The same goes for 

the crown; it needs to screw 

Classification of diving watches 

Watches are classified by their degree of water resistance. 

Water resistance rating Suitability Notes 

in so it seals tight against the 

o-ring to prevent any seepage 

around the stem. 

Pressure testing 

Changing batteries in a 

dive watch invariably also 

The Rolex Oyster 

Perpetual Submariner 

is a line of watches 

manufactured by 

Rolex, designed for 

diving and known 

for their resistance 

to water. The first 

Submariner was 

introduced to the 

public in 1954 at 

the Swiss Watch Fair. 

Copied by other 

watch makers, the 

Rolex Submariner is 

recognised as a classic 

which has has appeared 

in eleven James Bond 

movies 

Water Resistant to 50 m Swimming (no snorkeling related activity) and fishing. NOT suitable for diving 

Water Resistant to 100 m Recreational surfing, swimming, snorkeling, sailing and water sports NOT suitable for diving 

Water Resistant to 200 m Suitable for professional marine activity and serious surface water sports NOT suitable for diving. 

Diver’s 100 m Minimum ISO standard (ISO 6425) for recreational scuba diving. 100 m and 150 m ratings are mostly seen on older watches. 

Diver’s 200 m or 300 m Suitable for recreational scuba diving. The most common ratings for modern dive watches. 

Diver’s 300+ m for mixed-gas diving Suitable for saturation and advanced technical diving Watches designed for mixed-gas diving will have an additional 

marking d i v e r’s w a t c h L M f o r m i x e d-g a s diving. ■ 

means it must go in for a renewed pressure 

test in hyberbaric chamber, so make 

sure you return your precious time piece 

to an authorized dealer. 

Bezel 

Analog diving watches will often feature 

a rotating bezel, which allows 

for an easier reading of elapsed time 

of under one hour from a specific 

point. This is also used to compute 

the length of a dive. The bezel is ‘unidirectional’, 

i.e. it contains a ratchet, 

so it can only be turned counterclockwise 

to increase the apparent 

elapsed time. This is an important ‘fail 

safe’ feature. If the bezel could be 

turned clockwise, this could suggest 

to a diver that the elapsed time was 

shorter than it was, thus indicating a 

falsely short elapsed time reading, and 

therefore, falsely low air consumption 

assumptions, which are highly dangerous. 

Some dive watch models feature a 

lockable bezel to minimize the chance 

of unintentional bezel operation under 

water. 

Ornamental feature of the past 

With the advent of digital dive watches and 

the widespread use of dive computers, the 

exclusive use of a rotating bezel is now considered 

a rudimentary diving technique. Most 

contemporary dive watches with conspicuous 

15 or 20 minute markings on their bezels are 

the result of copying a Rolex bezel design of 

the 1950s. Back then divers typically planned 

a dive to a certain maximum depth based on 

now obsolete U.S. Navy dive tables, and dove 

according to the planned dive profile. ■ 


Dive Watches 

Oris 

Swiss manufacturer Oris has 

joined forces with the Australian 

Marine Conservation Society 

(AMCS) by launching the Great 

Barrier Reef Limited Edition dive 

watch. Fifty Swiss francs from each 

piece sold will be donated to 

AMCS to help protect and preserve 

the world’s largest and most stunning 

reef system. Water resistant to a 

staggering 100 bar (1000m, 3281ft) the 

Oris boasts a host of impressive design elements: 

multi-piece stainless steel casing with super 

scratch resistant sapphire face; automatic mechanical 

movement; easy to read centralized hour and 

minute displays with dark orange luminescent hands 

and face markings; helium buildup release button 

for divers who use pressure chambers; neoprene 

carrying case with logo and key fob. Also comes 

with a customized AMCS diver’s log book. 

www.oris.ch 

Standards for dive watches 

The standards and features for dive watches are regulated by the International 

Organization for Standardization in the ISO 6425 standard. Besides water resistance 

standards to a minimum of 100-meter depth rating, ISO 6425 also provides 

minimum requirements for mechanical dive watches—quartz and digital 

watches have slightly differing readability requirements. ■ 

IWC 

Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen, partner and sponsor 

of the Jacques-Yves Cousteau Society, has dedicated 

a fifth special edition to “Le Commandant” in honor 

of his 100th birthday: the Aquatimer Chronograph 

Galapagos Islands Edition. This finely crafted timepiece 

begins with a stainless-steel casing coated 

with matte black rubber making the watch pressure 

resistant to 12 bar (120m, 393ft) and comes 

with a barrage of special features. The sapphire 

glass dial makes the face nearly scratch proof 

(you can mar the surface with a diamond but 

nothing else will affect it) and the mechanical 

chronograph movement is self-winding and 

has a 44-hour power reserve. Each watch has 

an external rotating bezel, date and day display 

and a patented quick-change bracelet system for 

use with business or formal attire. IWC makes a sizable 

contribution generated by proceeds from the sale 

of the Aquatimer to the Galapagos-based Charles Darwin 

Foundation. For 50 years, the foundation has been making 

visitors aware of the archipelago’s uniqueness 

and providing them with guidelines to ecologically 

sound behavior and acting as sentries to ensure 

that the waters are not plundered and that 

the animals do not fall victim to poachers or 

predators imported from other seas. 

www.iwc.com 

Poseidon 

Poseidon takes a more traditional 

approach to dive watches by 

offering the Chrono. Each watch 

has a large, easy to read rotating 

bezel, ultra accurate chronograph 

movement, super luminescent face 

index and hands as well as three 

separate timing dials for seconds, 

minutes and hours. Chrono’s casing 

is made of stainless steel and is water 

resistant up to 20 bar (200m, 660ft) and 

comes in a plethora of face colors making 

this a fine timepiece for any serious 

diver. www.poseidonwatches.se 

TAGHeuer 

THE AQUARACER 500M CALIBRE 5 is as nice 

a dive watch as you will find anywhere and 

gives the wearer all the high-end options 

needed. The brushed stainless steel casing 

houses an ultra fine chronograph movement 

with automatic date surrounded by a 

unidirectional, soft-touch rubber bezel and 

is water resistant up to 30 bar (300m, 984ft). 

The crystal face is made of sapphire glass 

making scratches a virtual impossibility and 

the antireflective coating lets the luminescent 

hands and face indexes stand out in 

any light. For serious sport and technical divers, 

the 500M has a fine-brushed automatic 

helium valve which allows gas buildup in the 

watch to release due to time spent in pressure 

chambers or diving stations. The black 

rubber strap has a solid titanium clasp with 

safety push buttons for easy release and 

changes. www.tagheuer.com 

Timeline 

Early dive watches were 

often developed in 

response to military and 

professional needs. Later, 

they were designed for 

commercial diving, which 

started to appear in the 

1960s. As a result, professional 

dive organisations 

came into being, touting 

needs for “tool” watches to 

help conduct dives safely 

at great depth. 

1927 Rolex is credited with 

creating the first waterproof 

watch. 

1932 Omega introduced 

the Marine, considered to 

be the first dive watch. 

1930s Panerai produced a 

number of dive watches 

for the Italian Navy, waterproof 

to 650 feet. 

1953 Blancpain produced 

the Fifty Fathoms dive 

watch worn by Jacques 

Cousteau in the film, Le 

Monde du Silence. 

1954 Rolex introduced the 

Submariner—the watch of 

choice for James Bond in 

the first ten films. 

1957 Omega Seamaster 

was introduced. 

1967 Rolex Sea-Dweller 

introduced,first “ultra water 

resistant” dive watch, 

capable of depth to 610m. 

1970 Omega Seamaster 

Professional introduced, 

capable of depth to 600m. 

■ 


Dive Watches 

Audemars Piguet 

The high-class Royal Oak Offshore diver watch 

by Audemars Piguet can withstand pressures of 

30 bar due to fine quality gaskets and the unique 

hexagon screw design mounting the case and 

face as secure as a sub hatch. With a new twist, 

the classic click bevel has been replaced with an 

internal rotating ring with diving scale that is controlled 

by a rubber coated crown mounted at 10 

o’clock on the case. This keeps a diver from inadvertently 

moving the bezel while diving, always 

assuring any headings are taken and kept accurately. 

The finer points of the timepiece are just as 

impressive: self-winding, Calibre 3120 movement; 

stainless steel casing; luminescent coatings on 

watch dial and hands; hours and minute dive time 

measurements. We especially liked the rugged, 

octagonal face shape that dominates the face. 

www.audemarspiguet.com 

RedSea Holystone 

RedSea, a new company started just 

this year by two avid watch enthusiasts, 

offers the Holystone, a professional 

dive timepiece with all the 

rugged extras you need when diving. 

Water resistant to 30 bar (300m, 

984ft), this beautiful dive watch 

comes in your choice of stainless 

steel or black PVD (a long lasting 

protective coating used on high 

friction cutting tools). Each watch 

crystal is made of sapphire glass 

and the arms and face markings 

are layered eight times with 

special Lume-Tech coating for 

ultimate brilliance in dark areas. 

Both colors of the Holystone 

come with three separate 

bands—a five link steel bracelet 

for dressing up, Black nylon for more casual wear or a dark rubber dive 

strap for saltwater use. The large clicking bezel is easy to grab, even with 

gloves, and best of all, this new watch is priced below US$600. All watches 

will be available this winter, and if you place a pre-order, you will be automatically 

entered to win a free RedSea timepiece of your choice. 

Redseawatches.com 

Halios BlueRing 

The Halios BlueRing is an aesthetic and 

beautifully crafted dive watch from a great 

independent brand in Vancouver, British 

Columbia, Canada. With only 100 models 

of each dial color, it offers exclusivity 

in ownership that extends beyond the 

distinct design and excellent packaging. 

If you missed your chance on 

earlier models, such as the Holotype, 

the BlueRing should be secured quickly 

since previous editions sold out in 

months, and the BlueRing is setting a 

pretty fast pace as well (as of late summer 

only the silver dial with brushed silver 

case is still in stock). Features include: 

water resistant up to 30 bar (300m, 984ft); 

highly calibrated ETA 2824-2 movement; silver 

dial with black bezel; domed sapphire 

crystal for outstanding scratch resistance. Now 

is the time to order a highly exclusive dive watch 

from a trusted and well known brand. 

www.halioswatches.com/bluering 

Luminox 

Luminox has been the watch of choice for 

professionals like Navy SEALs, SCUBA legend 

Stan Waterman, the U.S. Coast Guard, law 

enforcement divers and many more. After 

20 years of making 200 meter water resistant 

watches, Luminox has announced its 

50 bar (500m, 1500ft) Deep Dive series. 

Specifically designed and constructed 

for use by professional divers, these 

watches can be taken to the deepest 

depths by technical divers doing their 

jobs, with all the attributes a true diving 

watch needs, including: stainless steel, 

PVD coated casing; screwed on crown 

with guard cover; sapphire glass face 

with anti-reflective coating; highly 

durable rubber strap; automatic 

helium release valve. The night vision 

tubes covering the dial, hands and 

bezel are ultra bright and are rated 

to last twenty-five years. This is serious 

gear for serious divers. 

www.luminox.com 

Watch strap 

The choices you have 

for a strap are typically 

Rubber, Stainless Steel or 

Titanium. 

Rubber: If its genuine— 

make sure to check—rubber 

is strong, comfortable 

and flexible. It will last for 

quite some time but will 

eventually deteriorate, 

and become brittle and 

susceptible to tearing. 

Stainless Steel: Is fine for 

dive watches; the only 

thing to watch out for is 

checking that it is genuine 

stainless steel since other 

metal straps will rust or corrode. 

Titanium: The best choice, 

if you can afford it, since it 

is stronger by a third over 

stainless steel and significantly 

lighter too, making 

it feel more comfortable 

as well. It’s also more 

durable and more corrosion 

resistant than stainless 

steel, and hypoallergenic, 

too, which may be another 

consideration. 

Further consideration: wetsuit 

clasp. This is a special 

clasp that makes 

the strap extendable 

so it’s 

easy to 

adjust 

and 

wear 

over a 

wetsuit. 

■ 


Dive Watches 

Reactor 

“Our new Poseidon has a number of 

firsts for us in terms of technology. In 

addition to the extreme 1,000m depth 

rating, the watch features an internal 

rotating bezel that can actually be 

adjusted underwater,” stated Jimmy 

Olmes, president of Reactor, on their 

website. Their most seaworthy model 

to date, Reactor’s Poseidon is built from 

stainless steel and has a substantially 

thickened case back and crystal face. 

The watch is available with a black and 

red dial with rubber strap, a yellow and 

black dial with two-tone black stainless 

bracelet, or a limited edition black and 

orange combination that will include both 

bands. The stainless bracelets include a 

wetsuit expander, another first for Reactor. 

www.reactorwatch.com 

Victorinox Swiss Army 

Precision timing meets extreme diving in the 

new Dive Master 500 Black Ice Chrono, now 

equipped with precision, self-winding movement 

in the same ultra-rugged and highly 

functional 43 mm sport watch from Victorinox 

Swiss Army. The 50 bar (500m, 1650ft) water 

resistance, which gives its name to the Dive 

Master 500 line, is maintained in this Chrono 

version which boasts a screw-in case back 

and crown, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective 

treatment. Of course, you’ll find a unidirectional 

bezel and luminescent hands, hour markers, 

logo and bezel markers for super bright readings 

in deep or dark waters. This dive watch features 

enhanced legibility of its separate twelve-hour 

counter at 10 o’clock, date window and small second 

counter at 6 o’clock. The strap is genuine rubber 

and comes in several colors to match the dial you 

choose (black, red and orange). For a more stylish, 

sophisticated look, a stainless steel bracelet with 

Porsche Design 

The first dive watch by Porsche 

Design since 1983, the P’6780 is 

not only uber-cool to look at but meets every 

high performance demand that can be placed 

on it. Capable of withstanding pressures at up 

to100 bar (1000m, 3281ft), the stainless steel case 

houses an ultra fine automatic movement and 

bright luminescent dial that is easy to read even 

in the darkness at its furthest depth range. The 

strap has a special extension that allows a diver to 

easily slip it on a wetsuit covered wrist without the hassle 

of popping the clasp open. But perhaps the most 

unique and functional design element is a special hinge 

that allows the watch case to swing upwards out of the 

titanium bracket. This allows the wearer to quickly move the 

crown without interference and blocks accidental movement 

while diving. Warning, if you’re ADD like some of us folks with 

fins, you’ll be flipping it up and down endlessly. 

www.porsche-design.com 

gunmetal coated PVD is also available. 

www.victorinox.com 

Breitling 

Breitling has revived the design of the legendary diver’s 

instrument it launched in 1957. While the technical qualities 

that have forged the Superocean’s reputation 

have been always been respected, the timepiece has 

been given a thoroughly updated look. The rubbermolded 

unidirectional bezel features sloping numerals 

that look and feel like a dive compass, and 

the notched edges make it easy to manipulate 

underwater even with heavy gloves for cold water 

diving. The strikingly distinctive dial is a continuation 

of the same vigorous design with oversized 

numerals and hour markers standing out nicely 

against the matte black face. This sleek and 

classy watch is water resistant up to depth of 

1,500 meters and has all the attributes of a 

professional instrument, like the safety valve 

that automatically releases the accumulated 

helium when the internal over-pressure 

reaches around three bar, the self-winding 

chronometer certified movement and the 

extremely scratch resistant sapphire crystal 

that is anti-glare coated on both sides. 

For deep and dark dives, the hands and 

hour markers are brilliantly lit making 

timed calculations a breeze. Several 

bracelet designs (rubber or steel) and 

inner dial color combinations (yellow, 

red, blue, silver and black) are available. 

www.breitling.com 


The Hammerhead 

Chrono XL by 

Freestyle 

Dive Watches 

Just for Kids 

Speedo Junior UV analog 

watch —Kids will love 

this fun and entertaining 

watch as the strap 

changes color when 

outside in the sun while 

simultaneously offering 

UV protection to 

the skin underneath. 

Features include: fashion 

forward design and fun graphics; 

water resistant to 100 meters; 

unique comfort strap with pinless 

buckle; lightweight and 

waterproof case. Available 

in other sporty colors. 

Retails for US$40.00. 

www.speedousa.com 

Caretaking 

Subjecting your watch to quick hot and cold temperature changes 

makes it much more likely to leak due to rapid expansion and 

contraction of the metal. In addition, chemicals like chlorine are 

hard on seals. 

Take time following any saltwater diving, or swimming in a chlorinated 

pool to rinse off your watch with fresh water. Rotate the 

bezel also to 

flush out any 

salt 

and 

sand. Taking an extra couple 

seconds for rinsing will make a big difference 

in terms of longevity, same as it does for 

the rest of your dive 

gear. ■ 

Freestyle Speaks 

Freestyle dive watches 

stand out from the pack. 

X-RAY MAG’s Gunild 

Symes interviewed 

Freestyle’s marketing 

manager, Chad LaBass, to 

find out just what makes 

them tick. 

GS: What makes your dive 

watches different from the others 

on the market 

CL: Affordability and durability 

add up to an overall value 

that separates us from our 

competitors. We understand 

that investing in dive equipment 

can be very expensive; we are 

proud to make dependable dive 

watches that don’t have to be 

expensive to be effective. 

GS: What makes your company 

different from others on the 

market 

CL: The Freestyle difference is 

in our product standards. Every 

watch we make is water resistant 

to minimum 100 meters, all dive 

specific watches to 200 meters, 

and we back all of them with a 

limited lifetime warranty. 

GS: There are different types of 

divers out there. Which watch do 

you recommend for each type of 

diver and why 

CL: Freestyle offers entry level 

dive watches. We aren’t in the 

business of competing with 

dive computers or expensive 

dive watches. We offer quality 

and value-packed dive 

watches from US$100-$175 for 

the price-conscious diver. Our 

recommendations: 

Warm water diver 

—dives in the tropics, lodging in 

luxury resorts and liveaboards: 

The Hammerhead Chrono XL. 

Why For a stylish and bold look 

in and out of the water. 

Cold water diver 

—technical diver, wreck diver, 

diving in the temperate zones: 

The Precision. Why It’s a proven 

performer with analog 

and digital readout with a 

nightvision backlight. 

Arctic diver 

—technical diver, 

diving the extremes in 

the polar regions: The 

Hammerhead. Why 

It’s the staple of our dive 

line, no-nonsense style 

and durability. 

Researchers 

—conservationists and 

eco-conscious divers: The 

Submersion. Why Choice 

between metal or 

polyurethane band 

and comes with a nightvision 

backlight. 

Economy-minded 

—middle class divers and 

university students: The 

Hammerhead. Why We 

challenge anybody to find a 

better dive watch for under $100. 

Weekend warrior 

—occasional diver who wants 

to impress peers with a great 

dive watch: The Hammerhead 

Chrono XL. Why For a stylish and 

bold look in and out of the water. 

GS: Which models of your men’s 

and women’s dive watches are 

the most popular and why 

CL: The Hammerhead is our most 

popular model and has been 

for years. It’s just one of those 

things, whether from word of 

mouth or just its classic dive style, 

the Hammerhead is always on 

top of our best seller list. 

GS: Are there differences in 

preferences of features and 

styling in dive watches between 

men and women If so, what are 

they 

CL: Not necessarily for the 

Freestyle consumer, they are 

generally looking to us for a 

dependable dive watch at a fair 

price. 

GS: What is the future of dive 

watches New technologies on 

the horizon New fashion and 

style attitudes New philosophies 

in watches in general 

CL: For now we don’t have 

any plans on investing in new 

technologies, as most of the 

time new technology will drive 

the price of watch up. We 

like our position in the market 

catering to the entry level diver, 

and we want to concentrate on 

offering the most durable and 

dependable dive watches we 

can make in the US$100-175 

range. If anything, we will find 

ways to make them even more 

stylish and comfortable. 

GS: Tell us about your 

sponsorships in the field of diving. 

CL: Currently, we don’t have 

any sponsorship agreements 

with divers, however we do 

plan on adding that category 

later in the year. In fact, we 

have recently opened up a 

sponsorship application for 

aspiring divers: 

www.freestyleusa.com/ 

sponsorship 

GS: Anything else you would to 

tell our readers about your dive 

watches and your company 

CL: We are working on a new 

women’s specific dive watch due 

out Holiday 2010. Stay Tuned! ■ 


User Nhobgood on Wikimedia Bommons. Image reproduced according 

to the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. 

It sucks! 

Cephalopods 

Jet-powered 

Masters of 

Disguise 

Text based on Dr James Wood and 

Kelsie Jackson’s Cephalopod Lesson Plan. 

Adaption edited by Peter Symes 

Most cephalopods—the group in which scientists classify octopuses, squid, cuttlefish 

and nautiluses—can change color faster than a chameleon. They can also change 

texture and body shape, and if those camouflage techniques don’t work, they can 

still “disappear” in a cloud of ink, which they use as a smoke-screen or decoy. 

Cephalopods 

use color 

change to 

interact with 

their own 

species, with 

other species, 

and with 

their environments. 

Cephalopods are also fascinating 

because they have three 

hearts that pump blue blood; 

they’re jet powered; and they’re 

found in all the oceans of the 

world—from the tropics to the 

poles, from the intertidal to the 

abyss. 

Cephalopods have inspired 

legends and stories throughout 

history and are thought to be 

the most intelligent of the invertebrates. 

Some can squeeze 

through the tiniest of cracks. 

They have eyes and other senses 

that rival those of humans. 

Brainy 

The class Cephalopoda, which 

means “head foot”, are mollusks 

and therefore related 

to bivalves (scallops, oysters, 

clams), gastropods (snails and 

slugs), scaphopoda (tusk shells), 

and polyplacophorans (chitons). 

Some mollusks, such as bivalves, 

don’t even have a head, much 

less something large enough to 

be called a brain! Yet, cephalopods 

have well-developed 

senses and large brains. Most 

mollusks are protected by a hard 

external shell and many of them 

are not very mobile. Although 

the nautilus has an external 

shell, the trend in cephalopods 

is to internalize and reduce the 

shell. The shell in cuttlefish, when 

present, is internal and is called 

the cuttlebone, which is sold in 

many pet shops to supply 

calcium to birds. Squid 

also have a reduced 

internal shell called a 

pen. Octopuses lack a 

shell altogether. 

Cephalopods are 

found in all of the 

world’s oceans, from 

the warm water of the 

tropics to the near freezing 

water at the poles. 

They are found from the 

wave swept intertidal region 

to the dark, cold abyss. All species 

are marine, and with a few 

exceptions, they do not tolerate 

even brackish water. 

Ancient 

Cephalopods are an ancient 

group that appeared some time 

in the late Cambrian period several 

million years before the first 

primitive fish began swimming in 

the ocean. Scientists believe that 

Cut– 

away 

showing 

the 

chambers in 

a nautilus shell 


ecology 

Background resemblance is when the animal 

changes its color and texture to match 

as closely as possible that of its background. 

James Wood 

Squids 

the ancestors of modern cephalopods 

(Subclass Coleoidea: 

octopus, squid, and cuttlefish) 

diverged from the primitive 

externally-shelled Nautiloidea 

(Nautilus) very early—perhaps in 

the Ordovician, some 438 million 

years ago. 

How long ago was this To 

put this into perspective, this 

is before the first mammals 

appeared, before vertebrates 

invaded land and even before 

there were fish in the ocean and 

upright plants on land! Thus, nautilus 

is very different from modern 

cephalopods in terms of morphology 

and life history. 

Cephalopods were once one 

of the dominant life forms in the 

world’s oceans. Today, there are 

only about 800 living species of 

cephalopods. By comparison, 

there is 30,000 living species of 

bony fish. However, in terms 

of productivity, some scientists 

believe that cephalopods are 

still giving fish a run for their 

money. 

Many species of cephalopods 

to grow 

very fast, 

Jon Gross 

reproduce over a short period 

of time, and then die. With overfishing 

and climate change, 

there may be more biomass of 

cephalopods now than anytime 

in recent history. 

Color change 

Cephalopods use their awesome 

abilities to change their 

color and appearance primarily 

for two things: camouflage and 

communication. The ability of 

the cephalopods to change 

The nautilus is similar in general 

form to other cephalopods, 

with a prominent head and 

tentacles. Nautiluses typically 

have more tentacles 

than other cephalopods, 

up to ninety. 

These tentacles 

are arranged 

into two circles 

and, unlike the 

tentacles of other 

cephalopods, they 

have no suckers, 

are undifferentiated 

and retractable. 

color is a trait that has evolved 

over time due to a greater need 

to avoid predators and become 

competitive in an environment 

shared with vertebrates. 

These abilities, and the behaviors 

associated with them, have 

become a major contributing 

factor to the success of the 

cephalopod family and are 

great examples of adaptation— 

physically, through natural selection, 

and behaviorally. 

Camouflage 

Camouflage is usually a cephalopod’s 

primary defense against 

predators. As cephalopods don’t 

have the protection of hard 

shells like many of their mollusk 

relatives, they make an easy to 

digest meal for a hungry predator. 

Therefore, most cephalopods 

try to avoid being seen to avoid 

being eaten. As well as predator 

avoidance, camouflage can 

also be used when lying in wait 

for unsuspecting prey to pass. 

Interestingly, cephalopods have 

more than one strategy 

for camouflage, 

and these will be discussed 

here. 

Resembling 

the background 

Background resemblance 

is the most 

well known form of 

camouflage. This 

is when the animal 

changes its color and 

texture to match as 

closely as possible that 

of its background. 

Cephalopods use their chromatophores 

to change color to 

match the brightness of the environment 

they are attempting to 

blend into, and some can also 

change texture using muscles in 

their skin. Many also use different 

body postures to help with 

this. They may hold their arms in 

certain ways or flatten them on 

the substrate to become what 

appears to be simply part of the 

scenery. 

Deceptive 

resemblance 

As well as simply trying 

to blend into a background, 

some cephalopods will 

attempt to make themselves 

Deceptive resemblance 

appear like a specific 

object in their 

environments. This is 

termed deceptive 

resemblance. 

The Caribbean reef 

squid, Sepioteuthis 

sepioidea, is often 

seen floating vertically 

at the surface 

of the water with its 

arms pointing downward 

to resemble 

floating sargassum 

weed. Some octopus 

may curl all their arms 

up into a ball, and 

add texture to their 

skin to appear like a 

rock. 

Octopus cyanea has also 

been seen swimming in a manner 

that makes it appear 

like a reef fish by swimming 

with all its arms 

together and 

creating 

false eye 

spots. 


Jan Derk 

James Wood

ecology 

Disruptive patterning being 

displayed by the cuttlefish, 

Sepia pharaonis. The large 

white band helps to break 

up the outline of the cuttlefish, 

making it harder to distinguish 

it from a complex 

environment when viewed 

from above by predators 

It is hard to know for sure the 

first benefit that the adaptation 

of changing appearance 

had for cephalopods. The fossil 

record is spotty and does 

not provide many clues as to 

behavioral adaptations. 

Disruptive patterning 

Disruptive patterning is seen in many 

creatures as well as cephalopods 

and serves to break up the outline 

of the animal to confuse predators. 

It involves the chromatophores, 

which are used to create sharply 

contrasting patterns on the body, 

often wide stripes or spots. This is best 

seen in cuttlefish, which employ this 

technique more readily than other 

cephalopods. 

Countershading 

Countershading is used to help a 

cephalopod blend in when there is 

no substrate against which to match 

itself. For instance, squid that spend 

much of their time in midwater 

rather than on or near the bottom 

can be seen easily by predators 

from below. Photophores and reflector 

cells on their underside match 

the light coming in through the 

water column, to make the squid 

almost invisible to animals below it. 

Countershading also makes rounded 

surfaces appear flat. So, a squid with 

a darker top surface and shades 

gradually decreasing to a pale 

under-surface will be harder to spot 

when viewed laterally. 

Deimatic behavior 

Deimatic behavior is often used 

when camouflage fails, and the 

cephalopod is still threatened. It 

involves changing rapidly from the 

color it was using to blend into its 

environment, to bold contrasting 

colors such as white and black. 

Some species of octopus will 

change instantly from their mottled 

appearance to bright white with 

black around their eyes. Deimatic 

behavior usually also involves 

body postures that make the animal 

appear bigger than it is. If this 

doesn’t work and the animal is still 

threatened, cephalopods will then 

usually ink and jet away. 

Communication 

Cephalopods use color change as 

well as body postures to communicate, 

both with members of their 

own species as well as with members 

of other species. Many cephalopods 

have courtship displays in 

which males attempt to attract 

females by using chromatic displays 

(displays using color changes) to 

show that they are suitable mates. 

This is well developed in squid and 

cuttlefish but is less common in octopus 

in which complex courtship rituals 

have not yet been seen. Often 

during courtship, males will not only 

have to attempt to attract females, 

but also to fend off other males. As 

chromatophores are neurally controlled, 

the animal may be able to 

produce a pattern on one side of its 

body to attract a female while producing 

another pattern on the other 

side, which it directs at other males. 

James Wood 

James Wood 

One side of the body produces 

a pattern to attract a female 

while producing another pattern 

on the other side, which 

is directed at other males 

Fighting between males also 

exhibits a lot of communication. With 

squid, time spent in acts of aggression 

involve mostly displays and very 

little physical contact. Squid will 

often show chromatic displays and 

body postures with increasing intensity 

until one backs down. 

In midwater, light organs and photophores 

are thought to be used for 

communication. In the same way as 

color is used in shallow water, bioluminescence 

can be used where 

there is less light to attract a mate, 

lure prey and dissuade predators. 

Predator avoidance may also 

involve some forms of communication 

to the predator. As with deimat- 

However, most scientists 

believe the initial benefit of 

the adaptation of changing 

appearance was crypsis, the 

ability to blend in with the environment. 

This allowed cephalopods 

to be camouflaged so 

they could more easily catch 

their prey. Perhaps even more 

importantly, camouflage was 

the first line of defense against 

predators. 

Much of cephalopod evolution 

is thought to be driven by predator 

avoidance. The earliest of cephalopods are 

thought to have used the ability to leave 

the bottom and swim up into the water column 

as a way to escape predators. 

As both predators and their prey evolved, 

two major groups of cephalopods—the 

ammonites and nautilus—became some of 

the most common marine animals. These 

James Wood James Wood 

A California two-spot octopus, Octopus bimaculatus, displays its abilities 

to camouflage in different environments. This type of camouflage is 

known as background resemblance, as both octopuses have adopted 

colors, textures and postures to attempt to blend into the background 

Octopuses are, of course, not the only cephalopods to display 

background resemblance. A cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, is 

attempting to match the color and texture of the sand in its laboratory 

tank. Notice the white tipped papillae closest to the sand 

that give the appearance of small pebbles that can be seen in 

other areas of the tank. This ability not only protects the animal 

from predators, it also assists with hunting as prey can come quite 

close without realizing there is a hungry cephalopod nearby 

two groups relied on their external shell to 

protect them from predators. The ammonites 

are extinct, and there are now only six 

species of nautilus in existence. All the rest 

of the modern cephalopods, the coleoid 

cephalopods, have reduced and internalized 

shells and have the ability to change 

color, texture and shape to camouflage 

and avoid detection from predators. ■ 


ecology 

Skin pattern created 

by cromatophores in 

this Atlantic Bobtail 

squid Sepiola atlantica 

Andy Murch 

User Hans Hillewaert on Wikimedia Bommons. Image reproduced according 

to the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. 

ic behaviors, showing a predator 

that it has been spotted and 

attempting to make itself larger 

and more frightful than it is will at 

least often make a predator stop 

and think, giving vital seconds 

for escape. On the other hand, if 

the bluff is successful, the predator 

may back away, thinking 

that it is not as easy a target as 

anticipated. 

Cephalopods have often 

been referred to as the chameleons 

of the sea. However, their 

ability to change color is more 

impressive than that of the chameleon. 

Unlike the chameleon, 

many of the cephalopod’s color 

producing cells are controlled 

neurally, which allows them to 

change colors very rapidly. 

The patterns and colors 

seen in cephalopods are produced 

by different layers of 

cells stacked together, and it is 

the combination of certain cells 

operating at once that allows 

cephalopods to possess such 

a large array of patterns and 

colors. 

Chromatophores 

The most well known of these 

cells is the chromatophore. 

Chromatophores are 

groups of cells that 

include an elastic saccule 

that holds a pigment, 

as well as 15-25 

muscles attached to 

this saccule. These 

cells are located 

directly under the 

skin of cephalopods. 

When the muscles 

contract, they stretch 

the saccule allowing 

the pigment inside to 

cover a larger surface 

area. When the muscles 

relax, the saccule 

Closeup of cromatophores 

shrinks and 

hides 

the pigment. 

Unlike 

in other 

animals, 

the chromatophores 

in cephalopods are neurally 

controlled, with each chromatophore 

being attached to 

a nerve ending. In some squid, 

each chromatophore muscle is 

innervated by two to six nerves 

that directly link to the animal’s 

brain. 

In this way, the animal can 

increase the size of one saccule 

while decreasing the size of 

another one right next to it. This 

allows the cephalopods to produce 

complex patterns, such as 

the zebra stripes seen in aggressive 

displays by male cuttlefish. 

The speed at which this can 

be controlled allows the animal 

to manipulate these patterns in 

a way that makes them appear 

to move across the body. In 

some species of cuttlefish, it has 

been noted that while hunting, 

the cuttlefish may produce 

a series of stripes 

that move down 

their bodies and 

arms. Some scientists 

have suggested 

that this 

could be used to 

mesmerize prey 

before striking, but 

the purpose of this 

behavior has yet 

to be proven. 

The pigments 

in chromatophores 

can be 

black, brown, red, 

orange or yellow. 

They are not 

responsible for 

producing the 

blue and green colors seen in 

some species. Interestingly, many 

deep water forms possess fewer 

chromatophores as they are less 

useful in an environment in little 

or no light. 

Iridophores 

Iridophores are found in the 

next layer under the chromatopphores. 

Iridophores are layered 

stacks of platelets that are 

chitinous in some species and 

protein based in others. They are 

responsible for producing the 

metallic looking greens, blues 

and golds seen in some species, 

as well as the silver color around 

the eyes and ink sac of others. 

Iridophores work by reflecting 

light and can be used to 

conceal organs, as is often the 

case with the silver coloration 

around the eyes and ink sacs. 

Additonally, they assist in concealment 

and communication. 

Previously, it was thought that 

these colors were permanent 

and unchanging unlike the 

colors produced by chromatophores. 

New studies on some 

species of squid suggest that the 

colors may change in response 

to changing levels of certain hormones. 

However, these changes 

are obviously slower than neural- 


ecology 

Chromatophores are located directly under the skin of 

cephalopods. When the muscles contract, they stretch 

the saccule allowing the pigment inside to cover a 

larger surface area. When the muscles relax, the saccule 

shrinks and hides the pigment. 

Squids 

ly controlled chromatophore changes. 

Iridophores can be found in cuttlefish, 

some squid and some species of octopus. 

Leucophores 

Leucophores are the last layer of cells. 

These cells are responsible for the white 

spots occurring on some species of cuttlefish, 

squid and octopus. Leucophores 

are flattened, branched cells that are 

thought to scatter and reflect incoming 

light. In this way, the color of the leucophores 

will reflect the predominant 

wavelength of light in the environment. 

In white light, they will be white, while in 

blue light, they will be blue. It is thought 

that this adds to the animal’s ability to 

blend into its environment. 

Photophores 

Cephalopods have one final ability to 

change color and pattern, the photophores. 

These produce light by bioluminescence. 

Photophores are found in 

most midwater and deep sea cephalopods 

and are often absent in shallow 

water species. 

Bioluminescence is produced by a 

chemical reaction similar to that of a 

Jon Gross 

James Wood 

chemical light stick. Photophores may 

produce light constantly or flash light 

intermittently. The mechanism for this is 

not yet known, but one theory is that 

the photophores can be covered up by 

pigments in the chromatophores when 

the animal does not wish for them to 

show. 

Some species also have sacs containing 

resident bacteria that produce 

bioluminescence such as the tiny squid 

Euprymna. Midwater squid use photophores 

to match downwelling light or to 

attract prey. 

It is the use of these cells in combination 

that allow cephalopods to produce 

amazing colors and patterns not seen 

in any other family of animal. However, 

not all species of cephalopod possess 

all the cells described above. For 

instance, photophores may be necessary 

for animals in deep water environments 

but are often absent in shallow 

water forms. Deep sea species may 

possess few or even no chromatophores 

as their color changes would not be visible 

in an environment with no light. 

Recent research has suggested 

that there may be some correlation 

between the amount of chromatophores 

(and hence the complexity of 

patterns available) and the type and 

complexity of a cephalopod’s environment. 

For instance, midwater species 

may possess fewer chromatophores. 

While species living in reef type environments 

may possess more. However, 

further research still needs to be conducted 

in this area. 

Octopus burryi showing white 

spots due to leucophores 

Cephalopod vision 

Cephalopods are known to have excellent 

senses, and of these senses, their 

vision is perhaps the best studied. At first 

glance, cephalopod eyes look very similar 

to those of humans, whales and fishes. 

With the exception of the externally 

shelled and primitive nautilus, all cephalopods 

can perceive focused images, just 

like we can. 

Cephalopods are invertebrates and 

other than being multicellular animals, 

they are not even closely related to vertebrates 

such as whales, humans and fish. 

Cephalopods, and their eyes, evolved 

independently. Why would animals so distantly 

related as a fish and a cephalopod 

have developed an eye that is so similar 

Colorblind 

Given the amazing ability of cephalopods 

to change color perhaps the most 

surprising difference between vertebrate 

eyes and those of cephalopods is that 

most cephalopods are completely color 

blind. How do we know We can train 

octopuses to pick black objects over 

white objects, white objects over black 

objects, light grey objects over dark grey 

objects and vice versa, but we can not 

train them to differentiate between colorful 

objects that look the same in grayscale. 

Also, most cephalopods only have 

one visual pigment. We have three. 

Although many species have not yet 

been tested, the only cephalopod known 

so far to have color vision is the firefly 

squid, Watasenia scintillans. This species 

of midwater squid is bioluminescent and 

has three visual pigments. All other species 

tested so far only have one visual 

pigment. 

Polarized light 

Although most cephalopods can not see 

in color, it has been demonstrated that 

octopuses and cuttlefish can detect differences 

in polarized light—without wear- 


ecology 

Squids 

Given the amazing ability of cephalopods to change 

color perhaps the most surprising difference between 

vertebrate eyes and those of cephalopods 

given is that most cephalopods 

are completely color 

blind. 

James Wood 

ing polarized sunglasses. Shashar 

and Hanlon showed that squids 

(Loligo pealei) and Sepiolids 

(Euprymna scolopes) can exhibit 

polarized light patterns on their 

skin. Therefore, cephalopods can 

not only see differences in polarized 

light, they can also create 

patterns using these differences 

on their bodies. (See fact file on 

next page.) 

Vision 

in 

cephalopod predators 

The predators of cephalopods 

include fish—such as sharks—birds, 

marine mammals and other cephalopods. 

All of these predators 

have single lens eyes, although 

often there is some variation between 

them to make their eyes 

more suitable to their environment 

and behavior. 

Fish On land, it is the air-cornea 

interface of vertebrates that gives 

most of the ability to focus. However, 

underwater, 

there is 

no such interface, 

so the lens 

must be much more 

powerful than that of 

terrestrial animals. The 

eye of the fish has a 

wide angle of view to 

make up for the fact 

that fish do not have 

necks and cannot 

turn their heads. Fish 

possess both rods and 

cones. Rods operate in 

low light intensity whereas 

cones allow for color and 

high light intensity conditions. 

Some fish also possess cones 

for vision in the ultraviolet part of 

the spectrum. Some fish have the 

ability to detect polarized light as 

do some cephalopods. There is 

large variation in eye morphology 

within fish as they inhabit a large 

number of habitats with varying 

light regimes, from complex coral 

reefs to the pitch black of the 

deep sea. 

Marine mammals that feed on cephalopods 

include dolphins, sea 

lions, and whales. Dolphins have 

a few adaptations to their eyes 

to assist them. For instance, they 

have muscles that can bend their 

lenses, so they can focus above 

James Wood 

the water. They also 

have a tapetum lucidum 

for night vision. 

Dolphins have rods and 

cones like humans; however, it is 

still unknown whether they see in 

color. It is thought that their combination 

of rods and cones allows 

them to see a large range of light 

intensities rather than colors. Sea 

lions do not have color vision, 

although it is possible that they 

can detect light in the blue and 

green spectrum. They also have a 

tapetum lucidum for night vision. 

Sperm whales are known to feed 

on the infamous Architeuthis, or 

giant squid. 

These squid, however, live in the 

deep oceans where there is not 

enough light for vision to be effective. 

Researchers believe that the 

sperm whale does not have good 

eyesight, as its eyes are so disproportionately 

small to its head. It 

is thought that sperm whales use 

echolocation to find their prey. 

Evolution of 

cephalopod vision 

It is known that nearly all living 

things including plants show 

some form of photosensitivity. 

How did this 

come to be 

Firstly, most life, 

with the exception 

of some deep sea vent creatures, 

is affected by light emitted 

from the sun, whether they require 

it for survival or are sensitive to 

it and must hide from it. All such 

organisms need to possess some 

sort of organ that allows an organism 

to know whether it is in high or 

low light, and possibly from which 

direction the light is coming. 

500 million years 

The ability to detect light with 

and eye has been developing for 

more than 500 million years and 

includes a variety of possible forms 

ranging from simple photoreceptors 

in single celled organisms like 

Euglena to the highly complex 

vertebrate eye. 

The first “eye” seen in singlecelled 

organisms and flatworms 

were simple photoreceptors that 

Peter Symes 

Glossary: 

The tapetum 

lucidum (Latin 

for “bright 

tapestry”; 

plural tapeta 

lucida) is a 

layer of tissue 

in the eye of 

many vertebrate 

animals, 

that lies immediately 

behind or 

sometimes within the 

retina. It reflects visible 

light back through the 

retina, increasing the light 

available to the photoreceptors. 

This improves vision in 

low-light conditions, but can 

cause the perceived 

image to be blurry 

from the interference 

of the reflected light. 

The tapetum lucidum 

contributes to the 

superior night vision of 

some animals. Many 

of these animals are 

nocturnal, especially 

carnivores that hunt 

their prey at night, 

while others are deep 

sea animals. Although 

strepsirrhine primates 

have a tapetum lucidum, 

humans and 

other haplorhine 

primates do not. ■ 


Peter Symes 

James Wood 

Seeing 

Polarized Light 

It has been shown through scientific 

experiments that squid, 

octopus and cuttlefish are 

able to detect polarized light 

as well as create signals using 

polarized light on their skin. 

What the difference 

What is polarized light and how 

is it different from unpolarized 

light Light is a form of electromagnetic 

radiation that travels 

as a wave. The wave 

doesn’t just vibrate 

on one plane; 

instead, it vibrates 

on many 

planes 

and in many directions at once 

while still traveling in the same 

general direction. Looking head 

on at a light wave, the assumption 

is that the wave is a straight 

vertical line as it moves toward 

the viewer. But, in actual fact, 

the wave moves vertically, horizontally, 

and diagonally all at the 

same time. This is how unpolarized 

light from the sun behaves, 

it is disorganized. Polarized light, 

on the other hand, only vibrates 

on one plane. The wave of 

polarized light, traveling toward 

the viewer appears as only 

one vertical or horizontal line 

How does it happen 

Polarization can happen in a 

number of ways. Firstly, when 

light hits an object, it can 

become polarized if it is reflected, 

refracted or scattered of 

off certain surfaces. Light may 

reflect off a non-metallic object 

or substance (like water) and 

become polarized. Polarized light 

that has experienced reflection 

will travel parallel to the surface 

of the object, which in the case 

of bodies of water, creates glare. 

The amount of polarization will 

depend on the angle of the 

incoming light. When light undergoes 

refraction (i.e. when it 

passes from air to water and 

gets bent), it may become 

polarized, although this time 

the polarized wave will usually 

travel perpendicular to the 

surface of the substance 

it has passed through. 

Light may also 

become partially 

polarized 

by 

scatter- 

ing, 

as 

light 

waves 

bounce 

off particles while passing 

through a substance. 

They can but we cannot 

So why can cephalopods, and 

the majority of mobile marine 

animals, see polarized light and 

humans cannot Cephalopods 

have different photoreceptor 

cells from humans. Cephalopods 

have photoreceptor cells that 

contain microvilli. The microvilli of 

each receptor cell are lined up 

parallel to each other. Microvilli 

contain the visual pigment rhodopsin, 

which is also orientated 

parallel in the microvilli. Receptor 

cells are aligned at right angles 

to each other, and hence the 

microvilli of one receptor cell will 

be at right angles to that of the 

next receptor cell. The rhodopsin 

assist in seeing the polarized 

light. Because the microvilli are 

arranged at right angles to one 

another, the animal is able to distinguish 

between different planes 

that the light is traveling on. 

Reflections 

Cephalopods can use their 

ability to see polarized light in 

many ways. Firstly, it is thought 

that they can see though the 

reflection created by silvery 

fish scales to better 

identify prey and predators 

Often this reflection is polarized. 

Just as humans put on 

polarized sunglasses to see 

through the glare created 

by polarized reflection off 

the surface of the ocean, 

the cephalopod can cut out 

the glare of polarized 

light produced 

by reflection off fish 

scales to better 

distinguish prey. 

Translucent prey 

may also be more 

visible for the same reason, 

as light reflecting off the 

tissues of the prey may be 

polarized, and while it may 

not produce glare, it would 

make the prey animal more visible 

to animals that can see this 

reflection such as cephalopods. 

Manipulating polarisations 

It has been shown that the iridophores 

on cuttlefish reflect 

polarized light in 

a way that they 

can intensify or shut 

off. This could be a 

form of communication 

between members 

of a species not visible 

to some other animals, 

especially 

predators such 

as sharks, seals 

and cetaceans. 

Cuttlefish 

reflect polarized 

light in a 

way that they 

can intensify 

or shut off 

Invisible communications 

It is thought that these creatures 

do not possess the ability to see 

polarized light, and thus cephalopods 

may have an advantage 

over them in being able to communicate 

with one another without 

attracting the attention of 

predators. It is also thought that 

cephalopods and other marine 

animals that can detect differences 

in polarized 

light may use 

their abilities to 

detect polarization 

to assist them 

in navigation. ■ 

Stress in a pair 

of plastic glasses 

can be seen 

by placing it 

between two 

polarizing filters 

The 

reflection 

created 

by silvery 

fish scales is 

often polarized 

Unpolarized light is disorganized. 

Polarized light, 

on the other hand, only 

vibrates on one plane. 

Author Spigget via Wikimedia 

Commons. This file is licensed under 

the Creative Commons Attribution- 

Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. 


ecology 

The ability to 

detect light with 

and eye has been 

developing for 

more than 500 

million years and 

includes a variety 

of possible forms 

ranging from simple 

photoreceptors 

in single celled 

organisms to the 

highly complex 

vertebrate eye. 

Andy Murch 

could ascertain only the amount of 

light in the environment. The more advanced 

form of this was cup-shaped, 

which allowed the animal to discern 

from which direction the light was 

coming. However, this sort of eye did 

not allow the organisms to see as we 

think of it. Thus, the pinhole eye developed. 

James Wood 

The pinhole eye of a Nautilus is incapable of focusing on objects at different distances. 

Instead, the size of the image produced will change in relation to the distance away 

from the object. 

Pinhole eye 

The pinhole eye is found in the Nautilus 

and consists of a small opening into 

a chamber, which allows a very small 

amount of light through. Light will pass 

through the pinhole after bouncing off 

different points of an object, and in this 

way basic shapes can be interpreted, 

not in any detail however. The hole is 

so tiny only a small amount of light can 

get in which makes the image faint. If 

the hole were larger, the image would 

be distorted. This type of eye is incapable 

of focusing on objects at different 

distances. Instead, the size of the image 

produced will change in relation 

to the distance away from the object. 

The compound eye was the first 

true image-forming eye, which was 

thought to have formed some time 

during the Cambrian period, about 500 

million years ago. The compound eye 

is common in insects and arthropods 

and consists of many ommatidia. Each 

ommatidia consists of a lens, crystalline 

cells, pigment cells and visual cells. 

The number of ommatidia will vary 

between species but may be up to 

1000 per eye. Each ommatidia passes 

information on to the brain. This forms 

an image that is made of up dots, as 

if looking very close at a digital photo. 

A higher number of ommatidia mean 

more dots which make the image 

clearer. This type of eye is only useful 

over short distances. However, it is excellent 

for movement detection. 

For an animal to be able to focus on 

objects at different distances or even 

to produce a clear image of its surroundings 

at all, its eyes needed to 

develop lenses. It is thought that early 

cup-shaped eyes, like those of flatworms, 

contained a substance that 

protected them from seawater. If this 

substance were to bulge, it would form 

a pseudo lens that would help to make 

an image form more precisely, and 

this may be favored by the process of 

natural selection. Although the compound 

eye is full of lenses, the only way 

to make the image sharper with this 

design was to add more ommatidia. 

Of course, this means the eye would 

have to increase in size 

and can only do this to a 

point before it is too large 

for the animal. Thus, more 

complex lens eyes formed 

in both vertebrates and in 

cephalopods. Although 

both of these designs have 

many differences, there 

are also many similarities. 

Cephalopod vs. 

Vertebrate Vision 

As already stated, both 

cephalopods and vertebrates 

have very complex 

image-forming eyes with 

lenses. Both cephalopods 

and vertebrates have single lens eyes. 

They work by allowing light to enter 

through the pupil and be focused by 

the lens onto the photoreceptor cells of 

the retina. However, between the two 

groups of animals, there are differences 

in the shape of the pupil, the way the 

lens changes focus for distance, the 

type of receptor cells that receive the 

light as well as some more subtle differences. 

James Wood 


ecology 

Squid fossil hundreds 

of millions 

years old 

Squids 

In vertebrates the pupil is round, 

and it changes in diameter depending 

on the amount of light in 

the environment. This is important 

because too much light will distort 

the image, and too little light 

will be interpreted as a very faint 

image. The cephalopod pupil is 

square and adjusts for the level of 

light by changing from a square 

to a narrow rectangle. 

The way in which the two 

groups use the lens to focus differs. 

Vertebrates use muscles 

around the eye to change the 

shape of the lens, while cephalopods 

are able to manipulate their 

lens in or out to focus at different 

distances. 

The receptor cells of vertebrate 

eyes are rods and cones. The 

cones are used for vision in high 

light environments, while the rods 

are used in low light. The time of 

day the animal needs its vision to 

be most effective will dictate the 

ratio of rods to cones. Cephalopods, 

however, have receptor 

cells called rhabdomeres similar 

to those of other mollusks. These 

contain microvilli, which allow 

the animal to see polarized and 

unpolarized light (see page on 

polarization vision). 

Lastly, the way in which light 

is directed at the retina differs 

between the two groups. Cephalopod 

retinas receive incoming 

light directly, while vertebrate retinas 

receive light that is bounced 

back from the back of the eye. 

Evolution 

The evolution of cephalopods 

is thought to be due to an evolutionary 

“arms race”. Over the 

course of cephalopod history, they 

have moved from the sea floor, 

lost their shells, developed abilities 

to change color, shape and texture 

as well as the ability to communicate 

in complex ways. It was 

their capacity to adapt to changing 

pressures that ensured their 

survival as a family. Those that did 

not adapt mostly became extinct. 

The first cephalopods appeared 

500 mya, before bony fish existed. 

These first cephalopods had a 

hard external shell like many other 

mollusks but 

were able 

to leave the 

ocean bottom 

and swim 

to escape 

predators. 

Ammonoids 

first appeared 

in the Late 

Silurian to Early 

Devonian 

(circa 400 million 

years ago) 

When a predator came along, all 

the cephalopod had to do was 

let go of the bottom and float 

away like a hot air balloon. One 

of the first advances may have 

been the creation of multiple 

chambers connected by a siphuncle; 

this allowed these early 

cephalopods to slowly change 

their buoyancy. 

Other early advances were 

likely to have been the ability to 

swim slowly to control direction. 

Two groups of cephalopods, the 

Nautiloids and Ammonids (570 

mya), depended on their external 

shell and ability to swim to protect 

them from predators. Both of 

these sub-classes 

of 

cephalopods 

do 

not have many of the traits of 

their modern relatives, such as 

the ability to change color, to 

produce sharp images with a 

James Wood 

lens-based eye, or the ability to 

swim fast. 

It is hard to say why the Ammonites 

and all but six species 

of Nautilus have become 

extinct. These cephalopods 

had a wide variety 

of external shells, some 

coiled, some long and 

straight, some with 

spines. These shells provided 

good protection 

from predators 

but inhibited 

the animals’ 

mobility. 

Predation pressure 

has long 

User Hans Hillewaert 

on Wikimedia Bommons. 

Image reproduced 

according to the 

Creative Commons 

Attribution-Share Alike 

3.0 Unported license. 

been thought 

to be one of 

the major forces driving cephalopod 

evolution. Perhaps as species 

of bony fish, many of which swim 

much faster than an externally 

shelled cephalopod, appeared 

in the early oceans, armor just 

wasn’t enough, and of those species 

that depended on armor, 

almost all have become extinct. 

Differently strategy 

Modern cephalopods have 

evolved a different strategy. Instead 

of a heavy protective external 

shell, they have reduced and 

internalized this armor. The loss of 

the heavy armor frees them from 

the weight of carrying it around 

and the energy needed to produce 

it. Most modern cephalopods 

are active predators. Instead of 

heavy armor, they rely on speed and 

visual tricks to avoid being eaten. 

Some scientists have suggested that 

these adaptations were in response 

to pressure from predators. Indeed, 

many of the tricks such as the ability 

to change color, shape and texture 

as well as the ability to produce a 

visual ink decoy seem to be aimed 

directly at their predators. ■ 

Glossary: 

The siphuncle is a strand of 

tissue passing longitudinally 

through the shell of a cephalopod 

mollusk. Only cephalopods 

with chambered 

shells have siphuncles, such 

as the extinct ammonites 

and belemnites, and the 

living nautiluses, cuttlefish, 

and Spirula. In the case of 

the cuttlefish, the siphuncle 

is indistinct and connects all 

the small chambers of that 

animal’s highly modified 

shell; in the other cephalopods 

it is thread-like and 

passes through small openings 

in the walls dividing the 

chambers. ■ 


whale tales 

Edited by Kelly LaClaire 

Blue Whales Visit 

California 

Groups of Earth’s largest creatures— 

the blue whale—have given amateur 

whale watchers and charter 

boat operators in California reason 

to celebrate, by showing up in 

abnormally large numbers in the San 

Pedro Channel off the California 

coast where upwards of 2,000 of 

the giant cetaceans come to feed 

each summer. Hunted almost to 

extinction in the 1960s, the enormous 

whales—averaging 

about 80 feet long 

and weighing 

between 150,000 

and 300,000 

pounds—have 

been making a 

slight comeback 

in recent years 

reaching numbers 

of around 

10,000 worldwide. 

Scientists suggest 

that vast krill clouds 

may be the reason 

so many whales 

are being spotted. 

Whatever it is, 

researchers and 

whale enthusiasts 

alike are extremely 

happy about it. ■ 

Postverk Føroya - Philatelic Office / public domain 

Giant sperm whale fossil has 

the biggest bite ever 

Scientists uncovered an 

ancient sperm whale fossil 

dated at 12-13 million years 

old in a Peruvian desert. This 

new, but extinct, species 

has been dubbed Leviathan 

melvillei and has teeth much 

larger than the sperm whales 

of today. The name derives 

from a combination of the 

Hebrew word livyatan, which 

refers to a giant sea monster, 

and American novelist 

Herman Melville, who wrote 

Moby-Dick. 

Researchers recovered 75 

percent of the animal’s skull, 

which contained a massive 

set of teeth, some as long as 

36cm—close to 10cm longer 

than any other sperm whale 

tooth ever recorded. This 

also led scientists to figure 

the average length of these 

whales to be 13-18m long. 

The sperm whales existent 

today do not have functional 

teeth in their upper jaw 

and feed by suction, usually 

on squid and the like. The 

Leviathan melvillei fossil, on 

the other hand, had giant 

teeth in both its upper and 

lower jaws, and a skull that 

seems to have supported 

powerful jaw muscles that 

scientists believe to enable 

the whale to hunt like modern 

killer whales, or orcas, 

and probably fed on baleen 

whales. 

The giant snout of the fossil 

suggests that it had a large 

spermaceti organ, a series 

of oil and wax reservoirs reinforced 

by connective tissue 

that could have served such 

functions as echolocation or 

ramming capabilities while 

fighting or hunting. Source: 

Nature.com ■ 

Apokryltaros / creative commons 

Some environmental reports have suggested 

that upwards of three-quarters of the 

nearly five million barrels spilled in the Gulf 

of Mexico have been cleaned up. But 

Professor Christopher Clark, head of the bioacoustics 

research program at Cornell Lab 

of Ornithology (the study of birds) and one 

of the scientists monitoring the long-term 

affects of the disaster, said the remaining oil 

could prove harmful to whale and dolphin 

populations and cause “very long term 

consequences on the health of the Gulf”. 

To find out just how much ongoing damage 

is being inflicted, Clark’s team is tracking 

Artist’s rendition and comparison of the prehistoric whales Livyatan 

melvillei and Cetotherium from Middle Miocene Peru 

Tracking whales like birds in the Gulf 

whales and dolphins by song and call, just 

as they would flocks of birds above the sea. 

“What we do is deploy instrumentation along 

the bottom of the ocean, or suspended in 

the water, that records sound for many, 

many months at a time. We deploy 

these strategically in areas we think 

the animals are most likely to be, 

and where the oil spill will most likely 

have an impact,” he said. 

By listening, instead of just 

looking, Clark and his researchers 

are more likely to gain important 

data on the social interaction of the 

Whale Friendly Lawns 

Is your lawn looking greener than 

ever If you answered yes, chances 

are you are using a chemical fertilizer 

to keep it that way. Unfortunately, 

every time it rains or you water your 

lawn, run-off gets into our local storm 

drains and brings some of those toxic 

chemicals into the local rivers and 

streams. This in turn harms fish and 

wildlife and promotes algae growth, 

which limits 

the amount of 

salmon that 

can live and 

reproduce. 

The chain 

effect continues 

by lowering 

salmon 

numbers, thus 

making it harder 

for Earth’s cetacean populations 

(whales, dolphins, porpoises) to thrive. 

But you can make a difference by 

committing yourself to being a responsible 

homeowner and limiting your 

chemical fertilizer use or switching to 

all-natural fertilizers. You can also join 

the Whale Friendly Lawns Campaign 

by signing up at www.acspugetsound. 

org, the web site of the American 

Cetacean Society. ■ 

animals within their pods and groups as well 

as insights into hunting activities, which will 

be vital in discerning whether or not the Gulf 

ecosystems are struggling. To 

learn more about Clark and his 

work, visit www.birds.cornell.edu. 

■ 


whale tales 

noaa 

What’s in your tuna 

Just because that can of tuna in 

your pantry at home says “Dolphin 

safe” on the label doesn’t mean it’s 

“marlin-safe” or “turtle-safe”. Before 

you pick up your next can of Chunky 

Albacore at your local grocery store, 

here’s something to keep in mind: 

the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s wellregarded 

Seafood Watch Consumer 

Guide has recently begun telling 

shoppers to avoid all canned tuna 

except for the those few labeled “troll 

caught” or “pole-and-line” caught. 

Most of the world’s tuna catchers 

use dolphin safe procedures, 

and this should be 

applauded, but 

all too often when 

hundreds of tons of 

tuna are caught, so are 

thousands of other species 

of “bycatch”—the industry term for 

unwanted species caught up in the 

nets—including sharks, rays, turtles 

and marlins, which are then killed 

and discarded. 

“The real problem is giving ourselves 

high fives for solving the tunadolphin 

problem when we’ve just created 

other problems,” said Timothy 

Artist’s rendition of trolling for tuna 

Essington, a 

scientist at 

the University of 

Washington. 

Troll-caught refers to 

a method of fishing near 

the ocean’s surface using short lines 

attached to barbless hooks. These 

hooks are hidden inside rubber 

“hoola skirts” that dance in the water 

and attract young albacore. Ten 

to 20 of these simple jigs are towed 

behind a slow-moving boat. 

Pole-and-line fishing refers to catching 

tuna one at a time the old fashion 

way—with a fishing pole! This, 

by far, is the safest and most 

environmentally friendly way of 

sustainable fishing and keeping 

bycatch out of the huge 

commercial nets of massive 

fishing fleets. 

If you now find yourself asking 

where you can find these 

kinds of “friendly caught” 

tuna, well, be prepared to 

look a little harder than usual. 

Fortunately, pole-and-line and 

troll caught tuna are becoming 

more and more popular 

with smaller retail food chains, 

and if you ask your local grocer 

to bring it in, you may be 

pleasantly surprised to find 

that they can usually accommodate 

your request. Just 

be sure to thoroughly check 

the labels and remember: the 

“dolphin-safe” label can be 

misleading. Buyer beware. 

Source: Forbes.com, Pacific fleet 

Tuna ■ 

www.OceanicWorldwide.com 

Three dive computers - Unlimited possibilities 


media 

point & click 

on bold links 

This Media page is brought to you by 

Book Log compiled by Robert Sterner 

of Sterner Editorial Services. Read earlier 

Book Log reviews by genre or call attention 

to books and videos to review at 

www.sternereditorial.com 

Wreck Valley has a new look 

Even if you already have Dan Berg’s Wreck Valley first and second 

editions, check out Wreck Valley III. A disclaimer is in order: Sterner 

Editorial helped copy edit this edition. What follows is a general 

description of the book, which joined the other editions on the office 

library shelves, where they’ve been since 1986 and 1990 respectively. 

The 188-page soft cover from CreateSpace is a total revision 

of Berg’s earlier books that examine nearly 150 wrecks off 

Long Island, New York and New Jersey, USA. Although they’re 

mostly the same wrecks as in the earlier editions, the text is 

updated throughout with some serious fact-checking. Where 

the new edition shines is in the layouts. Some 400 of the 550 

illustrations are in full color. Many are wreck divers’ dream 

scenes: local divers beaming over braces of trophy lobsters 

and newly recovered or beautifully restored artifacts that 

are testaments to the value of retrieving items before they 

rot into the seabed. There also are site maps hand-drawn 

by locals who visit the wrecks and side-scan sonar images 

sprinkled amid lively layouts that make the edition more 

fun to read. Private boat operators will like the GPS 

numbers for the wrecks and reefs, instead of the Loran 

coordinates listed in the second edition. Wrecks are in 

alphabetical order so the lack of a table of contents up front isn’t a problem. 

For quick reference, wrecks and page numbers are presented in the index that 

closes the book. Also in the appendixes are leads to more info in the bibliography 

and suggested reading entries with Web addresses. It’s available as a traditionally 

printed book or in digital form that can be downloaded into your reader or computer. 

ISBN: 978-1452867717. www.AquaExplorers.com 

Picture facing 

cozy icy dives 

With a thick enough under suit even the coldest 

waters can seem toasty except for the exposed 

flesh around your mouth. The way to overcome 

having a numb face is to switch to a full-face mask. 

American team, Steve and Kristine Barsky have 

just released a DVD, Choosing and Using Full-Face 

Masks, to help divers select and use the mask 

that’s considered essential gear by ice divers, 

commercial and public safety divers. The Barskys 

teamed up with Ocean Futures diver and TV personality, 

Blair Mott, as well as public safety diving 

instructor, Jeff Morgan, to cover full-face masks 

in the 48-minute video. Topics include how to 

select a mask, how to rig it, how to use it with 

scuba and with surface-supplied air, emergency procedures and mask maintenance. In addition 

to the mask video, the DVD has two bonus features. Operation Safe Water is a 13-minute 

clip featuring San Bernardino, California, Sheriff’s Department and FBI teams’ tips on diving 

contaminated water. The other bonus is a presentation of masks through history as well as 

manuals and catalogs. ISBN: 978-0-9740923-4644. www.hammerheadpress.com 

Meet Pacific NW denizens 

Anyone diving in Pacific Northwest waters of North 

America should consider packing Coastal Fishes of 

the Pacific Northwest in the dive bag. The Harbour 

Press soft cover by Andy Lamb and Phil Edgell is 

336 pages of photos and facts about the denizens 

from Central California to the Gulf of Alaska. The 

contents page has silhouettes of fish beside the name and 

chapter pages of the various species. This helps readers to quickly find information about 

the curious critters they saw on a dive. Various species are presented in photographs, many 

by Edgell, and line drawings that provide details to distinguish one subspecies from others. 

Data is presented in outline form covering the scientific name, maximum size, distribution, 

habitat and comments with factoids about the fish. The book closes with an appendix of 

resources including Web addresses, phone numbers and mailing addresses, and a bibliography 

that points readers to more information about the fish. There is a comprehensive 

index to quickly refer to specific creatures. It’s printed on quality slick paper that lets photos 

shine and feels like it’d resist water drips on a dive boat. The authors are well versed. 

Lamb is a marine naturalist with the Vancouver Aquarium, and Edgell has worked as 

a fish culturist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada at the Robertson Creek Hatchery on 

Vancouver Island. ISBN: 978-1-55017-471-7 www.harbourpublishing.com 


shark tales 

Edited by 

Peter Symes 

Text and photos by Andy Murch 

For centuries, the Diamond 

Shoals off North Carolina have 

been collecting shipwrecks. 

Hundreds of crumpled merchant 

vessels swamped by Mother 

Nature’s fury and scores of battle 

scarred war machines torn 

apart by enemy shells loom 

above the otherwise featureless 

substrate. Subjected to racing 

currents and pounded by relentless 

surge, each wreck eventually 

erodes into an unidentifiable 

debris field. But in the interim, 

while the doomed ships still hold 

their structure, they are magically 

transformed into vibrant 

marine oases. 

Initially, planktonic life forms looking for 

a permanent home attach themselves 

to every available inch of real estate. 

Larger invertebrates like snails and small 

crabs soon follow and begin grazing on 

the newly seeded decks. Within a season 

or two, blennies, angelfish and other 

small tropicals have arrived from who 

knows where, and the ghostly corridors 

are filled with swarms of silvery baitfish 

that morph from one shadowy corner to 

the next. 

Bermuda chub peck away omnivorously 

at anything slow enough to constitute 

lunch, and amber jacks sweep 

Seize the Day 

— a lesson from Mother Nature 

down from the heavens to scoop up the 

weak and injured. 

Suspended in the water column, 

schools of shimmering Atlantic Spade fish 

practice their synchronized swimming 

techniques, while motionless barracudas 

hang in groups around the remaining 

masts like living sign posts pointing to 

other distant oases. 

Lording over the entire food web, 

enormous sandtiger sharks hover in the 

choicest locations, or patrol slowly back 

and forth with their unblinking eyes and 

implacable, snaggletooth grins. 

The Sandtiger shark 

Sandtiger’s belong to the mackerel shark 

order, but they share few characteristics 

with their fast moving mako and white 

shark cousins. 

There are three species of sandtigers: 

the smalltooth sandtiger, which 

is rarely encountered except at great 

depth around Malpelo Island; the bigeye 

sandtiger, which is extremely rare 

and inhabits even deeper water than 

its smalltooth cousin; and the common 

sandtiger that many divers around the 

world have come to know and love. 


shark tales 

Even beyond the diving community, 

sandtigers are well known 

celebrities. Their ability to gulp air 

in order to counteract their negative 

buoyancy means that they 

do not have to swim continuously 

to avoid sinking. This 

makes them popular 

sharks in public 

aquariums because 

they are less likely to 

swim into the walls 

and inflict damage 

on themselves. 

However, longterm 

incarceration 

in small aquarium 

tanks does have an 

adverse effect on 

the sharks. After a 

few years in captivity, 

sandtigers often 

show signs of abnormal 

growth patterns 

including stunted 

fins and hunched 

backs. 

Even in the wild, 

sandtigers have 

their problems. 

Many populations 

struggle with parasitic 

growths in their 

mouths, and I have seen sandtigers 

with spine deformations and 

even one albino that had somehow 

managed to survive till adulthood. 

Sandtigers (called ragged-tooth 

sharks in Africa and grey nurse 

sharks in Australia) are unique in 

more ways than one. They are 

livebearers that produce two offspring 

(one in each uterus) per 

season. The developing embryos 

indulge in inter-uterine cannibalism. 

Once they have devoured all 

of their smaller siblings, they begin 

consuming a constant supply of 

unfertilized eggs that are channeled 

into the oviducts—a feeding 

strategy known as oophagy. 

The sandtiger’s ability to mooch 

slowly along with a stomach full 

of air is a fascinating adaptation, 

but in some ways, it may be a 

double-edged sword. It allows the 

sharks to conserve energy, which 

means that they do not have to 

feed as often as 

faster swimming 

species. That is a 

great advantage 

for large predators 

that have 

to rely on a 

limited food 

supply like 

the sandtigers 

on 

the wrecks 

of North 

Carolina. 

But, sandtigers 

are also 

ram ventilators, 

and 

their casual 

approach 

to swimming may in some 

ways limit their oxygen 

uptake, making them more 

sluggish and possibly even 

slower witted than other 

mackerel sharks. 

Sandtigers are not picky 

eaters. They are known to 

consume bony fishes, small 

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Sandtiger shark with diver; Barracudas above the 

wreck of the Spar; Lionfish; School of Atlantic spade fish. PREVIOUS PAGE: 

Sandtiger shark inside wreck 

sharks, rays, squids, crabs and 

lobsters. Interestingly, the North 

Atlantic population has not yet 

developed a taste for red lionfish. 

Lionfish 

A decade ago, lionfish from the 

tropical Pacific somehow managed 

to establish themselves 

on the wrecks of the Diamond 

Shoals. Its possible that the invaders 

were flushed from the bilges of 

passing ships, or they could have 

been released from home aquariums. 

However they got there, 

they appear to be flourishing. As 

they have no natural enemies, it 

looks as though the ecosystems 

that they have invaded may be 

changed forever by their presence. 

One of the best known wrecks 

off the North Carolina coastline 

is called the Spar. It is a thriving 

300-foot long artificial reef that 

was sunk about a two-hour run 

from Morehead City. Because 

of its elevation and intact super- 


THIS PAGE: Sandtiger sharks’ ability to gulp air to 

counteract their negative buoyancy means they 

don’t have to swim continuously to avoid sinking 

environments are in a constant state of change. 

Change can seem scary, especially when 

humanity is involved in manipulating the natural 

order of things, but the wrecks of the Diamond 

Shoals are a manipulation as well. 

Five hundred years ago the biggest topographic 

anomalies on the sea floor were probably a 

few small Viking ships. A thousand years ago there 

would have been nothing on the Diamond Shoals 

except an occasional whale carcass. 

Now that large vessels are equipped with 21 st 

century navigational aids and better marine safety 

protocols, North Carolina’s crumbling underwater 

habitats are unlikely to be replenished. It’ll 

take a while, but in a century or two there will be 

very few manmade structures left on the seafloor. 

That means, no more colonies of invertebrates, 

no more levitating sandtiger sharks and no more 

lionfish. 

Mother Nature rolls with the punches. When conditions 

permit, she presents us with jewels like the 

marine oases we have right now. 

The lesson to be learned from her is never to 

waste an opportunity. So, dust off your dive gear 

and enjoy the wondrous diversity of marine life on 

the shipwrecks of North Carolina while you can. 

Find out how you can help to protect sharks by 

visiting elasmodiver.com: elasmodiver.com/protectingsharks.htm 

■ 

structure, it is often packed with 

sandtigers. 

In recent years, it has been 

plagued by red lionfish, but during 

a productive weekend shooting 

sandtigers on the Spar this 

summer, I was unable to locate 

a single invader. Could it be 

that the sharks have developed 

a taste for spicy Asian cuisine 

It’s a nice thought, but it is more 

likely that the lionfish have either 

migrated into cooler water for 

the summer, or they are hiding in 

the bowels of the wreck where 

sandtiger photographers seldom 

venture. 

It may seem like a catastrophic 

problem, but before you lose 

too much sleep over the lionfish 

invasion, consider this: marine 

10_GiveSharksA Chance.indd 1 

Shark Fins Drying 

© Jessica King / Marine Photobank 

15/06/10 9:40 AM 


Andy Murch 

news 

Shark and ray watching could bring significant 

economic benefits to UK coastal communities 

A joint study with La Universidad de la Laguna (Tenerife) shows that shark and ray watching 

by divers is bringing millions of pounds into the Canary Islands economy every year. 

Leadingindependentthink-tank NEF (New Economics Foundation) said similar stories 

could be told in the United Kingdom if better conservation measures are put in place. 

Welcome to 

Papua 

New 

Guinea 

“This study reminds us that the 

marine environment is a key economic 

asset to countries such as 

the UK. Wildlife tourism in the UK 

already brings millions to our local 

economies but much of the marine 

environment remains an untapped 

resource that needs to be looked 

into in more detail,” stated Aniol 

Esteban, head of environmental 

economics at NEF. 

“Sharks and rays could be a very 

exciting starting point to explore 

the benefits for UK marine wildlife 

tourism. Better conservation of the 

marine environment will undoubtedly 

bring opportunities for UK 

coastal communities helping them 

secure longer term income flows 

and employment,” he added. 

The study revealed diving companies 

on the Spanish mainland 

were missing out on the attraction 

of sharks for divers, but those interviewed 

stated a higher frequency 

of shark and ray sightings would be 

very beneficial for their businesses. 

Shark and ray watching by divers 

brings in €17.7 million (£14.5 million) 

to the Canary Islands each year. 

The United Kingdom has 21 types 

of sharks and 16 types of skates 

and rays in its waters, including the 

basking shark, which is the world’s 

second largest fish. ■ 

Algae blooms damage sharks’ brains 

Toxins produced by red 

tide events can alter shark 

brains, resulting in “hyperexcitability” 

and even 

death, according to a new 

study. 

Brevetoxins, which are brainchanging 

compounds synthesized 

by some harmful algal blooms, 

have now been shown to affect 

a free-ranging marine species. 

In this case, researchers focused 

on lemon sharks, but they believe 

many other types of sharks could 

fall victim to the toxins. 

“Sharks are exposed via consumption 

of brevetoxin-contaminated 

water and food, such as 

shellfish,” co-author Niladri Basu 

explained to Discovery News, 

mentioning that the toxins can 

easily cross the shark’s blood-brain 

barrier that otherwise protects the 

brain. 

“Once inside the brain, brevetoxins 

bind very strongly to a 

protein that controls sodium flow,” 

added Basu, an assistant professor 

of environmental health sciences 

at the University of Michigan 

School of Public Health. “By disrupting 

sodium flow in the brain, 

nerve cells will over-fire and cause 

hyperexcitability and ultimately 

result in death.” ■ 

Source: Aquatic Toxicology. 

White sharks making a 

comeback off California 

A longstanding statewide ban 

on fishing for white sharks, an 

increased survival rate among 

young white sharks because of 

fishing gear restrictions, and an 

expanding sea lion population as 

a prey source are chief reasons for 

the comeback. 

Christopher Lowe, a professor 

at Cal State Long Beach, who has 

performed extensive tagging of 

juvenile white sharks off Southern 

California in the United States and 

has pored over data dating back 

generations, said personal observations 

and increased incidental 

catch rates of small white sharks by 

commercial fishermen help support 

his contention. ■ 

Papua New Guinea 

is located in the 

coral triangle of 

marine biodiversity 

with the highest 

diversity of tropical 

fish and coral in 

the world. 

www.pngdive.com 


technical 

matters 

When combined with a poor choice of equipment placement 

or a lack of storage space, the diver can end up looking like a 

Christmas tree with pieces of equipment randomly clipped on 

and dangling from every conceivable spot. 

Even if you never plan to explore the 

far end of a cave or dive to 100m, 

there are still some aspects of technical 

diving kit configuration that would 

benefit a recreational diver: 

The equipment used by technical 

divers differs considerably 

from that used by recreational 

scuba divers. Even when it 

appears similar, the technical 

diver will usually either carry 

more equipment or configure 

it slightly differently. In this article, 

we will look at the different 

equipment configurations used 

by technical divers, the reason 

for those differences 

and also 

whether there 

are any lessons 

recreational divers 

can learn from 

these configurations. 

Text by Mark Powell 

Technical Diving Equipment 

Over the years, recreational diving has 

developed a standard set of equipment 

configuration. Despite different makes 

and models there is a consistent set of 

gear shared by the majority of recreational 

divers. Buoyancy control is usually 

provided by a jacket style buoyancy 

compensator (BCD). The diver’s main 

cylinder contains the majority of their 

breathing supply, 

which is delivered 

via a primary 

regulator. 

A spare 

regulator or 

octopus is 

usually carried 

to 

provide 

a 

source of air to the buddy, or in the case 

of a problem with the main regulator. 

Additional equipment is often carried in 

the pockets of the BCD or clipped onto 

it. 

Technical divers have quite a different 

set up designed to deal with a different 

set of conditions to those experienced 

by the recreational diver. 

There are a wider range 

of styles of equipment 

configuration, although 

all of these 

styles have 

been 

developed 

to address 

the same 

key 

requirements. 

Redundancy 

The key requirement for any technical 

diving configuration is that it provides 

an adequate level of redundancy. 

Technical diving usually involves mandatory 

decompression stops, and it may be 

anything from a few minutes to a few 

hours before the diver is able to ascend 

to the surface without risking decompression 

illness. In this case, the loss or failure 

of any piece of vital equipment would 

be a major problem. As a result, the 

technical diver looks to provide redundancy 

of equipment so that he can 

resolve equipment problems whilst still 

completing the required decompression. 

Equipment that is required 

for the safe completion of the 

dive should always have 

a backup. 

Tech gurus 

John 

Chatterton 

and Richie 

Kohler 

trying to 

disentagle 

themselves 

after a technical 

dive 

Rosemary E. Lunn 

• Streamline your kit and eliminate 

any danglies. 

• Ensure you have redundancy 

for any critical kit. 

• Make sure you carry enough 

gas to deal with the worst case. 

• Consider a long hose on either 

your octopus or your primary. 

• Ensure your backup regulator is 

always accessible. 

• If you have a single delayed surface 

marker bouy, then make 

sure it is orange or red. 

Don’t be a Christmas tree 

By adding backups, the technical diver 

ends up carrying significantly more 

equipment than the recreational diver. 

If this is added in a haphazard way, or 

without consideration of how the configuration 

will work as a whole, it is very 

easy for the technical diver to become 

overwhelmed with equipment. 

Many divers carry equipment “just in 

case” it is needed without ever thinking 

about what is really required. When combined 

with a poor choice of equipment 

placement or a lack of storage space, 

the diver can end up looking like a 

Christmas tree with pieces of equipment 

randomly clipped on and dangling from 

every conceivable spot. 

This dangling equipment can introduce 

a number of additional risks. Firstly 

the diver may have so much clutter that 

when they need to get a specific item 

of emergency equipment, they cannot 

find it amongst all the other equipment. 

Secondly, dangling kit may become lost, 

caught in a piece of wreckage or entangled 

in a line. 


tech talk 

Be streamlined 

A pony cylinder is not sufficient redundancy 

for technical diving 

Streamline 

In order to avoid this Christmas tree 

effect, technical divers try to streamline 

their equipment and the placement 

of it. Contents gauges are clipped on 

rather than allowed to hang down. Reels, 

Delayed Surface Marker Bouys (DSMBs) 

and emergency equipment are stored 

in pockets rather than dangling on a 

lanyard. The same principles can be 

applied by the recreational diver 

to ensure their kit is streamlines 

and the Christmas tree effect is 

reduced. 

We all know that human beings 

are not designed to breathe 

underwater. For this reason, divers 

need to take their own breathing 

gas with them when they dive. 

It is essential that enough gas is 

taken to complete the dive. For a 

recreational diver to run out of air 

is bad enough, but for a technical 

diver, it is not an option. If a 

recreational diver runs out of air 

on a no stop dive to 20m, they 

simply have to get to the surface. 

However, on a decompression 

dive where the diver may still 

have 20 minutes of decompression 

to complete, they are faced 

with the decision of staying down, 

completing the decompression 

and drowning, or going to the 

surface and risking decompression 

sickness. This is a choice that 

should be avoided by ensuring 

that there is always a 

sufficient supply of 

breathing 

gas. 

Twins 

The use of a ‘pony’ cylinder may 

provide enough gas to allow an 

ascent from recreational depths, 

but the volume of these cylinders 

is simply not enough to allow an 

ascent plus decompression stops 

from greater depth. This means 

that a pony cylinder is not sufficient 

redundancy for technical 

diving. The use of twin cylinders 

or twinset is a way of providing 

this redundancy. 

A twinset is usually made up 

of two identically sized cylinders 

with a regulator connected to 

each cylinder. These can vary 

in size. Twinsets comprising two 

7l cylinders are popular with 

recreational divers who want to 

have additional redundancy, 

but for technical diving, cylinders 

smaller than 10l do not provide a 

sufficient volume of gas. Twinsets 

made up of 12l, 15l, 18l or even 

20l cylinders are available but, 

for the 

majority of 

techni- 

cal divers, 

twin 

12l cylin- 

ders provide a good balance of weight 

and gas volumes. 

Twinsets can be configured as independent 

or manifolded. Independent 

cylinders provide complete redundancy, 

as there is no link between the 

two cylinders. Thus, if one cylinder has 

a problem, the other is completely 

independent. However, as the two cylinders 

are independent, the diver has 

to switch from one to the other in order 

to balance the gas usage in the two 

cylinders. Whilst switching regulators 

should be easily within the skill set of a 

technical diver and should be a routine 

action, it can sometimes be forgotten 

when the diver is in the middle 

of a problem. 

In twinsets, the two cylinders are 

often connected at the valves by 

means of a manifold 

The other option is to manifold the 

two cylinders together. This involves 

connecting the two cylinders at the 

valves by means of a manifold. This 

has the benefit that the gas from both 

cylinders can be accessed from the 

primary regulator. The disadvantage 

is that, in the case of a problem, the 

diver must shut down the problem 

regulator, or isolate the two cylinders by 

means of a valve in the middle of the 

manifold, otherwise the gas from both 

cylinders will be lost. For this reason, it is 

essential that a diver with a manifolded 

twinset can carry out a ‘shutdown’ to 

prevent the complete loss of their gas. 

Vikki Batten 


Long hose 

One of the most distinctive 

aspects of a technical diving 

setup is the use of a long hose. 

A typical recreational diver will 

have their main regulator and 

then an ‘octopus’ regulator, 

which can be donated to their 

buddy in case of emergency. 

This octopus reg is often, but not 

always, on a slightly longer hose 

than the main regulator. 

Technical divers tend to use a 

much longer hose, from 1.5m to 

2m in length. There are a number 

of reasons for this. When diving in 

an overhead environment, such 

as a cave or inside a wreck, then 

if one diver were to go out of air 

(OOA), it may be difficult to swim 

out whilst in the side by side position 

that a normal length octopus 

would require. With a long hose, 

the divers can be one in front of 

the other and so can easily swim 

through restrictions. 

Of course, most recreational 

divers will never 

go anywhere 

near a 

cave or 

any 

level 

of 

wreck 

penetration 

but a 

long 

hose is still useful, even in 

an open water environment. 

If you try to ascend 

while breathing off your 

buddy’s short hose, you 

will need to be very 

close together. Sending 

up a DSMB, controlling 

the ascent and holding 

a safety stop are much 

more difficult when you 

are very close together and ‘in 

each other’s faces. Combined 

with the stress of the initial OOA, 

this can be enough to turn a difficult 

situation into a full blown 

incident. 

The long hose gives you the 

space to perform all of these 

tasks with enough room to remain 

com- 

fortable and composed. 

It is possible to use 

The first reason 

for donating 

the regulator 

in your 

mouth is that 

you know this 

regulator is 

working. 

a long hose configuration 

even on a recreational 

single cylinder set 

up. 

Which regulator 

The long hose could 

go on the octopus, but 

most technical divers 

put the long hose on 

their primary regulator. 

This is because, in the 

case of an OOA, they would plan 

to donate the regulator in their 

mouth. This is not what the majority 

of divers were taught in their 

entry level courses, so why should 

this method be adopted 

The first reason for donating the 

regulator in your mouth is that 

you know this regulator is working. 

The OOA diver will be under stress 

and putting a working regulator 

Rich Walker (left) demonstrating the reach of the long 

hose. In what is known as the Hogarthian configuration, 

it is the primary regular that is fitted with this long 

hose, which is routed around the head. The secondary 

regulator is fitted with a normal length hose and 

is suspended just below the chin on a bungy cord as 

seen on author Mark Powell below. 

See main text for 

full explanation 

in their mouth is the quickest way 

to calm them down. Another reason 

is that many people believe 

that an OOA diver is more likely 

to take the regulator from your 

mouth rather than hunting around 

for an octopus. 

The last reason is that technical 

divers frequently carry multiple 

cylinders. These cylinders carry 

gasses that are only breathable 

at certain points of the dive. If 

you breathe the gas at the wrong 

depth, then oxygen toxicity could 

be a very real risk. We know that 

the regulator in our mouth always 

contains breathable gas, and so 

by donating this regulator, we 

are ensuring that the OOA diver is 

getting a safe source of gas. 

Bungee 

Of course, if we donate our regulator, 

then that leaves us with no 

regulator. This is not a situation 

that we want to be in for very 

long. If we now need to start 

hunting around for our backup, 

ensuring that we don’t take a 

deco 

by 

gas regulator 

mistake, 

then we 

are just 

moving 

the 

problem 

along 

from 

ReSoRt SWS 

The winning combination 

of maximum functionality 

and simplicity. 

• New SWS weight pocket system 

to guarantee maximum reliability 

and easy use. 

• Comfortable emergency Octopus 

slot designed to minimize volume 

while diving. 

• Collar with soft draining padding 

to ensure maximum comfort. 

Seac. Discover a Wonderful World. 


Seac_TECNICO_2010_ENG_Resortsws_60x260.indd 1 2-03-2010 11:09:1

tech talk 

the OOA diver to ourselves. For this reason, 

the technical diver does not store 

his backup in his pocket, or clipped on 

somewhere on his chest, but instead, 

he stores it on a bungee around his 

neck. This means that once they have 

donated their primary, it is just a question 

of ducking the head and putting 

the bungied backup into their mouth. 

It is possible to use a twinset and 

long hose setup in conjunction with a 

standard BCD style jacket, providing 

that the jacket is sturdy enough. 

However, it is more 

common to 

use 

a twinset with 

a 

wing style 

BCD, 

backplate 

and harness. 

The 

Stage cylinders 

There is a 

convention 

that says 

that a red, 

or orange, 

delayed surface 

marker 

bouy (DSMB) 

is used as the 

main one 

wing provides the ability 

to have increased 

buoyancy to offset 

the twinset and also 

puts the buoyancy 

in the same place as 

the twinset. This usually 

makes the setup more 

comfortable then a 

BCD style configuration. 

The harness also 

reduces the amount of 

equipment and clutter 

that the diver 

has on their front. 

This is important 

if we are trying 

to maintain a 

streamlined configuration. 

When this type 

of setup is correctly configured 

it can be much 

more comfortable than 

a single cylinder and 

pony mounted on a BCD 

style jacket. 

Technical divers will 

often carry multiple gases, 

for use on different parts 

of the dive. One or more 

rich nitrox mixes are used 

to speed up the decompression, 

and there may even 

be an additional gas that is 

breathed during the descent. 

These additional gases are 

carried in what are typically 

known as stage cylinders. 

These are usually clipped into 

the diver’s chest and their waist 

and hang at their sides. 

Marker buoy 

Amongst technical divers, 

there is a convention that a 

red or orange DSMB is used as 

the main DSMB. They would 

also typically carry a spare 

DSMB complete with spare reel 

or spool. In addition, most technical 

divers also carry a yellow 

DSMB. This is used to signal 

that the diver has a problem 

and requires additional gas or 

other help. Typically, this is sent 

up the same line as the main 

DSMB and will often have a 

slate attached, which allows 

the diver to indicate what help 

they need. Of course, there is 

always the potential for confusion 

if a recreational diver has 

a yellow DSMB, and so all the 

recreational diving agencies 

through the British Diving Safety 

Group have agreed that if recreational 

divers carry a single 

DSMB then this should be red or 

orange rather than yellow. 

The use of rebreathers has 

become very common in technical 

diving but that is a subject 

for another article... 

Mark Powell is one of the leading 

technical diving instructors. 

Mark has been diving since 

1987 and instructing since 1994. 

He is a full time technical diving 

instructor for a number of the 

leading agencies and teaches 

all levels up to and including 

Advanced Trimix. Mark has 

led a number of expeditions 

to various parts of the world 

including the Middle East, 

Costa Rica, Malta and the Red 

Sea but is usually found diving 

the wrecks around the coast of 

the UK. ■ 

Rosemary E. Lunn 

GLOSSARY 

Back Gas — The gas carried in your 

main (back mounted) cylinders. 

Stage Cylinder — a) In the United 

Kingdom, a generic name for any 

cylinder carrying additional gas to 

that in the main cylinder. 

Stage Cylinder — b) In cave diving, 

a cylinder that is dropped or 

‘staged’ at a specific point in the 

dive. As such, it could contain deco 

gas, travel gas or bottom gas. 

Side Slung — Another name for a 

stage cylinder, so called because it 

is usually connected or slung on the 

diver’s side. 

Deco Gas — The gas to be 

breathed during some of the 

decompression stops and used to 

speed up the rate of decompression. 

The stage cylinder used to 

carry this may also be refered to as 

a deco cylinder. 

Travel Gas — Gas that is used during 

the descent if the back gas is 

not breathable on the surface. The 

stage cylinder used to carry this 

may also be referred to as a travel 

cylinder. 

Bottom Gas — Sometimes the back 

gas in the twinset is not enough and 

an additional stage cylinder of the 

same gas is carried to breathe during 

the bottom time portion of the 

dive. The stage cylinder used to 

carry this may also be referred to as 

a bottom gas cylinder. 

Bailout Gas — The gas carried by a 

rebreather diver in the event that 

they experience a problem with 

their rebreather. They would switch 

onto this bailout gas and then continue 

the ascent breathing from the 

bailout cylinder(s). 


turtle tales 

Edited by 

Bonnie McKenna 

Sea turtles from the Gulf oil 

spill have been released in 

Florida 

Two boats of wildlife rescuers released 

42 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, plucked 

from the waters near the Deepwater 

Horizon oil spill, got a second chance. 

The releases, Florida’s 

wildlife officials said, was 

the largest number of rescued 

sea turtles returned 

to the Gulf of Mexico; 

thus capping a remarkable 

journey of rescue 

and recovery. 

The juvenile turtles were 

rescued between June 

and August. Of the 42 

turtles, 37 were victims of 

the oil spill, and the other 

five were found stranded 

noaa 

in Mississippi, but without oil on them. 

More than 150 oil spill turtles 

are still waiting to 

be released. 

Once at the 

release site, the 

turtles were 

each taken out 

of their crates, 

and their tags 

recorded 

before being 

released. ■ 

Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle 

noaa fisheries / Marco Giuliano/ Fondazione Cetacea 

Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) 

Guana Research Reserve volunteers and staff track 

and protect sea turtles 

The Guana Research Reserve on Ponte Vedra Beach in 

Florida has been busy tracking and protecting loggerhead 

sea turtle nests this nesting season. 

Loggerhead turtles are the most common sea turtles in the 

area. Approximately 72 nests are recorded each year, but 

this year the number of nests has more than tripled. 

Don Eastman, Guana Reserve biologist said, “We may be 

experiencing a baby-boom on our beaches.” 

Nesting season runs to the end of October. This season, 

to date, records indicate more than 250 nests have been 

counted along the seven-mile beach. 

The biologists believe that public education and making 

shrimpers use turtle excluder devices on their nets could be 

contributing to the increase in the number of nests. 

A cadre of 18 trained volunteers has been the key to the success 

of the research program. Volunteers not only adopt nests but also 

educate people on the beach and through a lecture series on 

how to protect sea turtles. ■ 

The forgotten flatback sea turtle 

expedition 

The Sea Turtle Restoration Project is working with activists 

in Australia to protect the little known flatback sea turtles 

that live in the area of Western Australia known as the 

Kimberley. If you would like to receive some information, 

to volunteer or to discuss this exciting sea turtle and outback 

adventure, contact Teri Shore at tshore@tirn.net. ■ 

 

• Ocean Kids Foundation Charity Prize Raffle 

SHOW ORGANISERS MAJOR SPONSORS MEDIA SUPPORTERS 

dive in. explore. discover 

RNA Showgrounds 

Brisbane Australia 

Sept 30 – Oct 2 

• International Dive and Travel Resort Zone 

• Marine Science and Conservation Hub 

• Blue Edge - International Spearfishing 

& Freediving Symposium 

• Various events and product trials at 

50m Try Dive Pool 

• Seminars, workshops and presentations 

• 5th Underwater Festival showcase of 

selected entries and short films 

• Underwater Festival Awards & ODEX Party 

• FREE entry for registered visitors 

Submerge your senses 

www.oceaniadiveexpo.com 

SHOOTOUT Sept 2 – 11 

Australasia-wide 

SHOWCASE Brisbane 

Australia (ODEX) 

Sept 30 – Oct 2 

• Australasia-wide underwater photo and 

video shootout in 25 countries... any dive site 

• Over US$100,000 in prizes and US$10,000 cash 

• Judges and Festival Celebrities include 

Neville Coleman, Mathieu Meur, Stephen 

Wong, Takako Uno, William Tan, Tim Rock, 

Bob Halstead, Tony Wu and many more 

• 10s of official Festival Fringe events all 

over Australasia 

• Showcase of top 100 winning shots and 

videos at ODEX 2011 

• Awards Ceremony and Underwater Festival 

Party at ODEX 2011 

Where will YOU dive 

www.underwaterfestival.org 

file illustration 


Edited by 

Peter Symes 

& Scott Bennett 

photo & 

video 

Choosing the almost black background 

(in the image below) 

allowed me to select the fish and 

isolate it from the background in 

post production on the computer 

Field Work 

Text and photos 

by Lawson Wood 

www.lawsonwood.com 

Now, we have our camera and 

all of its ancillary added on bits. 

We have checked that everything 

works. We have our chosen 

format decided. We have 

our laptop and portable hard 

drive all packed up and ready 

to go on location, but where are 

we going and why go there in 

the first place 

Research 

Getting to know your subject is perhaps 

easier than you think, however, we 

really do not have a whole lot of spare 

time underwater collecting knowledge 

on our subject matter. Rather, we read 

up everything that we can about any 

behavioural oddities; we talk to other 

photographers who have been to the 

location we have chosen; and we 

research as much as possible, quite a lot 

of which can be found readily available 

on the Web. 

Timing isn’t everything, so they say, but 

in underwater photography, timing is 

everything, whether it is the time of day, 

month, season or year. There are climatic 

changes annually as well as water 

temperature fluctuations. Some of the 

best diving to be done in the Caribbean, 

for instance, is in August and September, 

but it is blistering hot on shore, and there 

Juvenile Queen Angelfish (Holacanthus ciliaris), Cayman Brac, Cayman Islands —105mm lens, ISO 100, Sea & Sea YS180 flash, 1/125th second at F16 

is a fair chance that you may get 

caught up in one of the periodic 

hurricanes, which can sweep 

through the entire area. Typically, 

hurricane season is from 1 June to 30 

November. 

There are similar seasonal activities 

destined to spoil your photography in 

virtually every location on the planet. 

Plan any trip well in advance and 

you will not be disappointed. 

More often than not, it is pot luck 

at the end of the day and your own 

conviction that you can get good 

photographs from every dive. If the 

viz is bad, take close-ups. If daytime 

conditions are terrible, dive at night. 

One time, in the Red Sea, 

there were a simply staggering 

amount of jellyfish. They covered 

the entire surface of the sea and 

filled the water column for two 

days. Many people complained, 

but I concentrated on jellyfish 

photographs! 

Pelagic fish and mammals also 

have seasonal migration routes. 

One can photograph humpback 

whales in Rurutu in French Polynesia 

in October, or whalesharks in the 

Seychelles in November, or leafy 

sea dragons in southeast Australia in 

February, or basking sharks in June in 

the Irish Sea and the Sardine Run off 


photo & 

video 

Christmas Tree Worm 

(Spirobranchus giganteus), 

Cayman Brac, 

Cayman Islands— 

60mm lens, ISO 200, 

Sea & Sea YS180 flash, 

1/125th second at F16 

silver 

BELOW: Divers at sandbar 

off Grand Cayman 

South Africa in February—the list goes on. 

The point is that whatever your desire, 

someone will more than likely have been 

there before you, taken photographs 

there, or even written a book. 

I once spent over 50 minutes in seven 

metres of water inside the crumbling 

remains of a small shipwreck on the 

northwest shore of Cayman Brac, in the 

Cayman Islands. The wreck was a former 

inter-island landing craft by the name of 

the Barbara Ann. Inside the stern section 

about three metres square, I found a 

juvenile queen angelfish (Holacanthus 

ciliaris). It was around 3cm from head to 

tail outfitted with outlandish, 

incredibly vivid colours. 

As you can imagine, such 

a small colourful fish was also 

very timid. But after watching 

the fish and creeping closer, 

armed with my trusty Nikon 

and 105mm lens, I was able 

to ascertain its swim pattern 

where it would perform a 

figure eight and hide behind 

part of the old ship’s interior 

mid journey. 

I took a photograph, it 

darted for cover, but then 

started its normal route, 

so I took another 

photograph. It swam 

for cover. But after a few more 

photographs, it got used to me. I 

could soon anticipate its route and 

managed to take three or four 

absolutely great photographs of 

this shy and elusive fish. 

Having such a nice and 

cooperative subject allowed 

me the time to choose my 

backgrounds as I took the 

photographs. Choosing the almost 

black background allowed me to 

select the fish and isolate it from 

the background in post production 

on the computer. This clean image 

could now be superimposed on 

another photograph for instance or 

used as a graphic representation in 

a feature article. 

Empathy 

No matter how we try to be 

invisible to our photographic 

subject, inevitably we are just those 

big ugly, ungainly creatures that 

blunder around without too much 

thought, sometimes getting too close to 

subjects and at other times not seeing 

the big picture. You can only start to 

become more familiar with your subject 

matter if you can have some empathy 

and understanding of the intrusion into 

their personal space. 

Humans are just the same in this 

respect. If a stranger gets uncomfortably 

close, then we automatically back off 

or turn and be prepared to fight. Our 

adrenalin peaks, and it is the primeval 

fight or flight reflex. Well, apply this 

sentiment to the underwater world when 

approaching a new subject for the first 

time. 

The creature may be light or pressure 

sensitive, such as Christmas tree worms 

(Spirobranchus giganteus), and you may 

only get one chance at the photograph. 

If you encounter this subject in calm 

water with perhaps overcast skies, then 

when your flash fires, the worm instantly 

disappears into its tube home in the 

coral. Similarly, if you find these normally 

shy animals in well lit turbulent waters 

with perhaps some surge, you can 

usually take two or three photographs 

at different angles before the creature 

eventually withdraws, if at all. 

Christmas tree worms are both light 

and pressure sensitive and so must be 

approached slowly and with empathy, 

as there may be only the one chance 

of taking the photograph before they 

retreat. 

Lawson was raised in the Scottish east 

coast fishing town of Eyemouth and 

spent his youth exploring the rock pools 

and shallow seas before learning to 

scuba dive at the tender age of 11. Now 

over 44 years later, Lawson has been 

fortunate to make his passion his career 

and has authored and co-authored 

over 45 books mainly on our underwater 

world. Lawson is a founding member of 

the Marine Conservation Society; founder 

of the first Marine Reserve at St. Abbs 

in Scotland and made photographic 

history by becoming the first person to 

be a Fellow of the Royal Photographic 

Society and Fellow of the British Institute 

of Professional Photographers solely for 

underwater photography. ■ 

cinema of dreams 

www.seacam.com 


photo & 

video 

10 Bar releases 

housing for 

Sony NEX-5 

10 Bar has released a housing 

for the Sony NEX-5 camera. 

Supplied with a standard dome 

port and lens ring, the housing 

sports an aluminum front, acrylic 

back, and is rated to a depth of 

60m. Suitable for the Sony NEX 

18-55mm lens, it features mechanical 

controls for all functions and 

will allow for TTL strobe exposure 

via fiber optic cables. 

www.10bar.com 

Fantasea FP7000 Housing for 

New Nikon Coolpix P7000! 

Fantasea Line has announced its new housing for 

the Nikon’s new Coolpix P7000 digital camera. 

Rated to a depth of 60m/200 feet, the FP7000 

housing is manufactured to the highest professional 

standards of function, style and durability and 

is ideal for snorkellers and divers alike. Designed 

to be compatible with a complete Accessory 

System, all controls are easily accessable and 

labelled for comfortable operation. 

Also included is a special mount for lighting 

accessories, double O-ring seal, removable double 

fiber optic cable connection and removable 

flash diffuser. The robust construction is shock resistant 

and protects the camera from water, sand, 

dust, frost and other damaging elements. 

The expected release date is set for early 2011. 

Pricing has not yet been made available but 

other housings are in the US$100-$130 price range. 

Sanyo 

Announces 

Full HD 

Dual Xacti 

Underwater 

Camcorder 

The new Dual Camera Xacti is 

a full HD (1,920 x 1,080) camcorder that records MPEG4 video at 

depths of up to ten feet underwater. Weighing in at a mere five 

and a half ounces with dimensions of 3.37 by 1.47 by 4.34 inches, 

its compact size is a definite travel plus. It can record over 480 

minutes of video in addition to 14-megapixel still photos. Other 

features include a CMOS sensor (14.4 megapixels), wide angle 

lens and a 5X optical zoom. The Xacti also offers a couple of proprietary 

features: a “double-range zoom,” which enables the use 

of a 12X zoom for wide angle to telephoto recording, as well as 

High-Speed Sequential Shooting, for up to 22 photos at seven frames 

per second. It is compatible with SD, SDHC and SDXC cards. List price: 

US$349.99 www.us.sanyo.com 

Why Digital 


photo & 

video 

Light & Motion Releases 

the Fathom Wetmate 65 

Degree Wet Lens 

Inon X-2 Housing 

for Panasonic 

Lumix GF1 

Inon has released its X-2 housing for the 

Panasonic Lumix GF1. The corrosionresistant 

body design is constructed from 

lightweight aluminum alloy. Featuring 

multi-coated lens port compatability, 

the housing features controls for almost 

every feature on the GF1, plus fiber optic 

bulkheads for external strobe sync. INON 

plans to support INON 45mm macro, 

14-45mm, 7-14mm and 8mm fisheye lenses. 

An optional leak sensor is also available. 

www.inon.jp 

Full High-Definition 

Underwater Camera 

Ocean Presence Technologies has 

announced the latest addition to its line-up 

of high-definition underwater cameras: the 

AquariCam® OPT-12HD. This new Full HD 

fixed lens camera comes with a120x optical/digital 

zoom and provides the highest 

resolution available with a wide fixed lens. 

Designed for public aquariums, especially 

for use in small tanks, it enables visitors to 

simultaneously view the full high-definition 

live video stream. The AquariCam-HD can 

cover a wide 50 degrees of monitoring 

area with great efficiency and features 

a 10x optical with an additional 12x digital 

zoom. High-definition image sensors now make digital zooming practical without significant image quality loss. 

Cameras are connected using a single hPoE (High-Power-over-Ethernet, IEEE802.3at compliant) marine-rated cable. 

Underwater lighting, floating battery packs and wave generator power systems are also available. For more information 

on this and other HD-IP cameras, visit: www.oceanpresence.com 

Light & Motion has announced the shipping release 

of the new Fathom Wetmate 65 degree wide angle 

lens. Utilizing a robust press-fit system with the flatport, 

the Fathom Wetmate 65 is designed to fit all 

2010 Sony Light & Motion underwater video housings. 

Engineereed with the highest quality glass on the 

market and boasting a low distortion rate 

of only 1.40 percent and a 50 percent 

zoom through rate, it can be instantly 

mounted and removed underwater 

for optimum “one dive” shooting 

versatility. Price: US$579.00 www. 

uwimaging.com 

Nikon 

24-70mm Coffee Mug Arrives 

For those Nikon users who just can’t get enough of their lenses, 

Canon Mug has added a Nikon version to their popular line of mugs 

and thermoses. The Nikon AF-S 24-70mm 2.8 features a stainless steel 

interior and features a fully zoomable lens barrel. The black thermos 

coffee cup comes complete with a gold box and a drawstring bag 

to carry it around in. A one-piece 

lens mug/barrel 

combination 

retails for US$49.99. 

Sets of two, four 

and ten pieces 

are also avail- 

able. Just keep 

them away from 

your 

real lenses to avoid 

unpleasant accidents. 

www.canonmugs.com 


Focus on sharpness 

Autofocus does fairly well for shooting on the fly, but to 

really get things just right there is nothing like manually 

focusing the single-lens-reflex-style cameras in a housing. 

Sea & Sea has a new accessory to help discriminating 

photogs fine-tune their images. The VF45 prismatic 

viewfinder replaces the original housing viewfinder. It 

eases focusing by providing 1.2 power magnification of 

the entire viewfinder area. The angled eyepiece rotates 

360 degrees in 90-degree increments to it can be positioned 

in the most comfortable position whether being 

used to shoot portrait or landscape images. The VF45 

is made of an alu- 

minum alloy that has 

been anodized for 

corrosion resistance. 

At 2.3 by 3.9 

by 3.8 inches and 

weighing less 

it 

than 14 ounces, 

slips easily into 

the gadget bag. 

The VF45 is currently 

compatible 

with the MDX series 

housings including 

the MDX-7D, 5DMKII, 

D300s, D700, D300*, 

40D*, PRO D3*. *Requires 

LCD window be 

replaced, please contact 

your retailer for parts 

information and availability. 

A release date is set for the 

end of September with an MSRP 

of $1,075.00. www.seaandsea.com 

Dry shooting in wet places 

The newest underwater photo kit from Sea & 

Sea is almost like two products. First, there’s the 

DC-GE5 12.5 megapixel digi-camera that is 

waterproof to 16 feet without the housing. Yet, 

the company is marketing it with a polycarbonate 

housing that allows full access to the camera’s 

controls to a depth of 180 feet. Since it is 

waterproof, there is little worry about condensation 

or minor flooding killing the camera in the 

housing. 

Outside of 

the housing, 

it withstands 

rain or sea 

spray while 

pursuing outdoor 

activities. 

The 

camera features 

a 2.7- 

inch liquid 

crystal diode display screen, four-power optical 

zoom and a lens that zooms from 38 to 

152 millimeters. In macro mode, it focuses to 

a mere 2.3 inches. Sensitivity can be set from 

ISO 64-3,200, and the shutter speeds range 

from 1/2000 th of a second to 30 seconds. It 

can be used to shoot 30-frame-per-second 

movies and has built-in effects including 

panoramas. Automatic face detection 

and image stabilization ease snapping 

shots on the go. It has 16 megabytes of 

internal memory and accepts SD/SDHC 

memory cards of up to 16 gigabytes. A 

lithium-ion battery and charger is packed 

with the camera along with a USB cable 

and Arcsoft editing software. The housing 

weighs less than 14 ounces on land, but 

only 1.05 ounces underwater. An optional 

accessory lens can be affixed while 

underwater to shoot wide-angle images. 

Grips were positioned on the housing 

to ease holding the unit and gaining 

access to the controls. 

www.seaandsea.com 

The Photo & Video News is brought to you in part by 

Gear Check, compiled by Robert Sterner of Sterner 

Editorial Services. Suggest products to review and 

read earlier Gear Check items by product categories 

at www.sternereditorial.com 


Unique Dive Site 

The Rio Negro’s Amazons 

The Inia geoffrensis, more 

commonly known as the 

pink dolphin, is nicknamed 

locally as ‘Boto’ and resides 

in the waters of the Rio Negro. 

Although still poorly known, 

this species is considered the 

most intelligent of the five 

species of freshwater dolphins. 

The pink dolphin has a 

melon-shaped head, a thick 

and elongated back, a crest 

instead of a dorsal fin, and 

disproportionately large ventral 

fins and tail—all of which 

making it less refined than the 

common dolphin. Yet, when 

you see its agility and wild 

grace underwater, it makes 

you think of the legendary 

Amazons. 

The pink dolphin’s flexibility is unique; 

its spine allows it to perform impossible 

contortions compared to other 

dolphins. Thanks to its flexible neck, 

it can turn its head 180 degrees. The 

dolphin’s sight is quite keen, despite 

its small eyes. Its very sharp high-frequency 

communication system allows 

it to move in the Rio Negro’s dark 

waters and detect its prey. As with all 

dolphins, sound waves are emitted 

through air bags under the respiratory 

openings, albeit the pink dolphins 

sound waves are amplified by the 

mass of fatty tissue found in its voluminous 

melon-shaped head. While some 

of the sounds it makes can be heard 

by humans, most are inaudible due to 

their high frequency. 

The Rio Negro 

The source of the Rio Negro (Black 

River) in Colombia, continuing its 

journey to Brazil, through the rich 

Amazonian forest. Here, it converges 

with the Rio Solimões to form the 

Amazon. From afar, the Rio Negro 

appears to be black, but with a closer 

look, it is actually dark brown. This dark 

color is due to the humic acid that 

forms due to the incomplete decomposition 

of the phenol contained in 

the vegetation of the sandy clearings. 

Both rivers, the Rio Negro and the 

Solimões, meet south of Manaus, the 

capital of the Amazon. The Solimões 

source begins in Peru. Its waters are 

clearer (beige in color), and it is filled 

with sediment. The meeting point of 

the two rivers is a most impressive sight, 

as they do not blend together. They 

continue to run alongside one another 

for approximately forty kilometers (25 

miles) before finally mixing. 

This can be compared to a glass 

filled partially with water and partially 

with oil. They simply do not blend. 

More surprisingly, the fish species living 

in the respective rivers do not cross 

over onto the other side; they stop at 

the border. 

This phenomenon, whereby the 

waters do not mix, is due to several 

factors: a difference in pH (potential 

Text and photos 

by Michel Braunstein 

Pink dolphin coming out of the dark (above); Sailing on the Rio Negro (top left) 


feature 

Unique Dive 

Hunting dolphins (top right) Get this image on a new T-shirt at www.sharktees.com 

Thanks to the pink dolphin’s flexible neck, it 

can turn its head 180° (top left) 

hydrogen) levels; the Rio Solimoes 

is basic, whereas the Rio Negro 

is acidic in nature; and large 

temperature differences, ranging 

from 28°C to 35°C (82-95°F) 

in the Rio Negro River and a 

much cooler Rio Solimoes with 

temperatures ranging from 20° to 

22°C (68-72°F). The last significant 

difference is in the speed with 

which the rivers run. The Amazon 

flows at a speed of 8km per hour 

(5 miles per hour) and the Rio 

Negro at 3km per hour (1.9 miles 

per hour). 

Pink dolphin behavior 

During an expedition to the 

Amazon in 1992, the Cousteau 

Society studied the pink dolphin. 

Unable to isolate the animal in a 

pool, they had difficulty analyzing 

its behavior. 

The pink dolphin lives peacefully 

alongside another species, the 

Sotalia fluviatilis, or gray dolphin 

(gray dolphin enters the Amazon 

River from the sea). 

The pink dolphin has no natural 

predators, except man, and is a 

dreaded hunter. Piranhas fear it 

because it feeds on them, as do 

the “Pirarucu”—the famous giant 

fish—and the Cayman. It feeds 

on catfish, various crustaceans 

and other fish. 

The pink dolphin lives in the 

Amazon basin. It can be found all 

the way up to Ecuador and Peru, 

where it is called “Bufeo colorado” 

(colored dolphin). It can also 

be found in the Orinoco basin, 

where the Rio Negro source starts 

(Colombia, Venezuela). You may 

often see it in areas where there 

is a great concentration of fish or 

where the rivers converge. 

I was fortunate to see the dolphins 

in the Rio Negro, near the 

Ariau lodge, 60km from Manaus. 

There is a place where they frequently 

visit and from which they 

can be observed. If you are lucky 

enough, you can even get near 

them and swim with them. This is 

a unique experience. It is impressive 

to see these huge of 2.5- to 

3-meter long animals come out 

of the dark and move with amazing 

agility, especially when hunting. 

They are so fast in the water, 

making it difficult for photographers 

to immortalize them on film. 

The origin of its color is not 

clear; it could be caused by the 

capillaries under its skin. Some of 

Feeding the dolphins (above and bottom left) 


feature 

Unique Dive 

the boto’s can also be pale blue 

or even albino. 

The pink dolphin is very active 

in the local mythology; some 

native tribes of the Amazon worship 

it, while others think of it as 

the devil and hunt it. The gray 

dolphin is usually considered 

as sacred. A traditional myth 

of the Amazon tells us that the 

pink dolphins emerge out of the 

water come nightfall, transform 

into handsome young men and 

seduce the young women. They 

then resume their original shape 

and return to the river early in 

the morning. 

but the dolphins of the Amazon 

are definitely important for the 

regional ecosystem. It is mandatory 

that we look after them 

because of their vital position at 

the heart of the planet’s lung. 

Michel Braunstein’s passion 

for the sea was born when he 

was a child watching Jacques 

Cousteau’s movies. At 20, he 

started diving and doing underwater 

photography. Since then, 

he’s never stopped taking 

underwater pictures, first with 

the Nikonos V, and today, with a 

DSLR. Recently, Braunstein started 

an exceptional scuba t-shirts 

website at www.sharktees.com. 

To see more photography by 

Braunstein, visit: www.braunstein. 

co.il—a website which won the 

prize for best promotional website 

at Antibes World Festival of 

Underwater Pictures in 2007. ■ 

TOP TO BOTTOM: Swimming with pink dolphins 

in the Rio Negro; Piranha fish fear pink dolphins 

because they feed on them—therefore 

there is no danger to humans from piranha 

fish when swimming where the dolphins are 

circling; Dolphins circle around the fishermen’s 

nets; At night in the Rio Negro, a speeding 

cayman alligator also fears the pink dolphin 

Threatened status 

A mere 20 years ago, the species 

was not threatened by 

extinction. However, its population 

is decreasing significantly 

due to intensive fishing, deforestation, 

forest fires, destruction of 

the habitat (dams, agriculture, 

construction), extermination 

by fishermen—who are angry 

because dolphins destroy fishing 

nets—river pollution due to raised 

mercury levels, fishing methods 

using explosives and overpopulation. 

To date, no one knows exactly 

how many specimens still exist, 

TOP TO BOTTOM: The pink dolphin sports a crest instead of a dorsal fin; 

The pink dolphin’s flexibility is unique—its spine allows it to perform impossible 

contortions compared to other dolphins; Splendid botos are very 

important in keeping the balance of the regional ecosystem 


Caelum Mero 

P O R T F O L I O 


portfolio 

Text edited 

by Gunild Symes 

All images 

by Caelum Mero 

Underwater fashion 

photographer, 

Caelum 

Mero of Australia, 

has developed a 

unique personal 

style that is fun, 

fabulous and poetic. 

He invites us 

into an underwater 

realm of mystery, 

magic and grace. 

X-RAY MAG’ s 

Gunild Symes 

caught up with him 

to find out the story 

behind his inspiration. 

GS: Tell us about yourself, why you 

started creative work with the 

subject matter and medium 

you have choosen, and what 

inspired you to become an artist 

and fashion photographer. 

CM: My foray into underwater 

photography began during 

university where I was studying 

marine biology and 

started to really get 

into diving. Once I was 

accepted into post graduate 

research for university, I was no 

longer able to dive as much as 

I was used to, and it started to 

drive me crazy! Luckily, the apartment 

I was living in had a pool, 

and so I managed to convince 

PREVIOUS PAGE: 

Clowning Around. “This 

image took ages to produce,” 

said Mero. “It’s actually 

one clown. I created 

a seperate layer, horizontally 

reversed the original 

image and pasted it down 

to make it appear like two 

clowns.” 

a friend of mine (who happened 

to be a Swedish model) to pose 

for me underwater. This was done 

purely to satisfy my cravings for 

underwater photography. But 

soon enough I was hooked on the 

creative aspect of this new style 

of photography, and I soon realized 

that it wasn’t necessarily the 

diving I was missing but rather it 

This image entitled, Wildlocks, was produced for a hair salon. Fake dreadlocks are pinned to the models 

with hundreds of bobby pins. “It was a nightmare to work with,” said Mero. ABOVE: Mero used two off 

camera flashes synced via fibre optics to wash out the bottom half of the image in white 


portfolio 

All images produced with a Nikon 

D90, Ikelite Housing, Ds 51 strobes, 

Ds 125 Strobes, Tokina 10-17mm, 

Nikon 12-24mm, Nikon 60mm 

Mero 

“This poor model had 

some heavy duty 

makeup applied to 

produce the colours 

scene here,” said 

Mero. “The makeup 

artist left before giving 

him the product to 

remove it. Apparently, 

he was coloured like 

that for a few days.” 

Mero used a 

scuba tank on 

the bottom of the 

pool with some 

pantyhose over 

the nossle to produce 

these fine 

microbubbles 

Food dye in a 

bath tub (below) 

was the photography. 

Before long, I was shooting two to 

three times a week in the pool and 

constantly practicing and learning new 

techniques. Getting into fashion photography 

was just a natural extension 

of what I was already doing. Fashion 

photography is brilliant, as it allows you 

to combine the technical aspects of 

photography with no hindrance on your 

own personal creativity. 

GS: What was your training and education 

as an artist and fashion photographer 

and how did you develope your 

personal style Do you have any role 

models, artistic, cultural or political influences 

CM: My own training and education 

as a fashion photographer 

came purely from trial, error 

and a healthy dose of obsession. 

I would constantly read 

and review prominent fashion 

photographers works and 

techniques. 

My own personal style is 

still developing and definitely 

not cemented yet. I’m constantly 

evolving the way I 

shoot, and I’m currently working 

on a new major body of work at the 

moment. 

My photography role model has to 

be the technically flawless Howard 

Schatz. His work is always an inspiration 

to view, and I often find myself checking 

out his work before a big shoot to 

help me focus. 

From an artistic point of view, I would 

have to say that I draw a great deal of 

inspiration from Salvador Dali. I believe 

that the underwater world can be used 

to generate some stunning surrealist 

photography. 

GS: Tell us about your artistic method... 

what is your process, how do you 


portfolio 

Mero 

FAR LEFT: A complicated shot actually taken at a horizontal plane 

and flipped into a vertical shot. The fake eye lashes were a nightmare 

to work with, said Mero. 

LEFT: “This shot was great fun to produce,” said Mero. “We used a variety 

of costumes to get the right look for the umbrella. The lights above 

the pool gave the water the lovely orange tones you can see.” 

ABOVE: Two off camera strobes were used to illuminate this model 

from below. The hardest part was finding a good dress that would suit 

the image, said Mero. 

choose a subject and compose a 

shot 

CM: That’s a complicated question! 

Well first and foremost, I always look for 

and examine the natural light at my 

location. I believe firmly in using natural 

light for underwater fashion photography. 

For the artistic side of things, 

I tend to find my subjects and ideas 

in very odd and peculiar locations. I 

spend so much time underwater, that I 

often find myself wondering how people 

and objects would look floating 

around in a pool! 

GS: Tell us about your experience under 

the waves. Where are your favorite 

spots and what 

most inspires you 

about the underwater 

world and the oceans 

CM: The underwater world has been 

such a major part of my life for the 

last six years. I studied marine biology, 

worked as a marine biologist, 

researched marine biology and then 

became a full time underwater photographer. 

Every day, I’m either in the 

water, editing photos from the water or 

planning a shoot in the water. 

My favourite spots are the cold, 

remote, hard to get to and almost 

untouched dive sites that you can find 

along the ruggard coastline of Victoria, 

Australia. Some of these sites are only 

dived a few times a year. A place that 

is also particularly special to me is Lizard 

Island in the Great Barrier Reef, where I 

spent two months researching my honours 

thesis. 

The most inspirating aspect of the 

underwater world is its dynamic nature. 

Everything is constantly in motion and 

changing. To capture this on film is such 

a brilliant challenge. 

GS: What are your thoughts on art and 

marine conservation How do you see 

them influencing one another, you and 

your audience 

CM: If you can produce an art piece 

that conveys a message—whether it be 

about the beauty, rarity or plight of our 

oceans—then you’re directly impacting 

marine conservation. 

I originally started underwater photography 

to raise awareness about my 

96 X-RAY MAG : 38 : 2010 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY EDUCATION PROFILES PORTFOLIO CLASSIFIED

portfolio 

BELOW: “This image was 

hard to produce,” said Mero. 

“I had to get the model to 

pretend she was holding a 

ball of light underwater, and 

then I added it in later in 

Photoshop.” 

Mero 

OUR NEXT ISSUE 

NOVEMBER 2010 

Happy Diving! 

andy murch 

andrea ferrari 

eric hanauer 

andrea ferrari 

“This image has been flipped upside down,” said Mero. “The model jumped in and slowly floated to the surface, 

which is when I captured this image.” RIGHT: Bath tub and food dye 

local marine ecosystems, which none of 

the local public seemed even remotely 

aware about. I was determined to bring 

back meaningful and beautiful images 

from these unknown ecosystems. 

GS: Why art Why is art important 

CM: I produce art because if I don’t, it 

slowly drives me mad! I have all these 

ideas running around in my head, and 

if I don’t try and photograph them, they 

never seem to go away. I tried drawing, 

painting and a few other mediums, and 

photography is the only artistic medium 

that really allowed me to produce the 

ideas that I have, effectively. 

Art’s importance lies in its ability to 

communicate and convey a sense of 

feeling and emotion... or sometimes just 

a random idea. It’s the communication 

behind art that makes it so important. 

The concept behind an image doesn’t 

need to be obvious or uniform, it can be 

totally ambiguous, but as long as each 

viewer draws their own conclusion about 

the image, than it’s a successful art 

piece in my opinion. 

GS: When you teach workshops, what is 

your focus or mission or point of view you 

like to share with students 

CM: I mostly focus on the practical 

side of photography and try to teach 

students how to achieve various camera 

and lighting 

effects. I leave 

the creative composition 

up to the 

students. I try to 

give them the tools 

necessary for them 

to go out and 

build upon their 

own ideas. The last 

thing I want to do 

is dictate to a student 

what good 

composition is 

without taking into 

account their own creativity and opinion 

on good photography. 

For more information and to order 

prints directly from the artist, visit: 

www.calmerophotography.com ■ 

eric hanauer 

— from the staff at X-RAY MAG 

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